Diary of the Misunderstood, Ally Dawson
by xChipsAhoy
Summary: Ally and Austin go to a fine arts camp for a summer, but all goes wrong when Austin accidentally reads a passage from Ally's book about her secret crush on Austin to all the students. Ally starts hating him and they stop talking. Three years later; during their senior year in high school, they are put together as lab partners in chem and Ally's roller coaster of love begins.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It was another regular summer day here at Miami or maybe I should say another regular day a few kilometers away from Miami. Austin and I signed up for a fine arts camp, so I could improve on my song writing skills and him with his stage skills. It didn't take long for Dez and Trish to come along. Dez decided to sign up for a video effects class and Trish somehow got a job here as a swimming instructor. I really wondered as to how long she was going to be able to keep that job for... She already got fired from three other jobs here.

"Don't touch my book!" I yelled at Austin who was eager to hear the new song I wrote for him for the upcoming end of the summer 'Rockin' Bash'.

"But Ally!" He protested. "I need to practice now! I want to win the competition."

"Then why don't you- oh I don't know, try to be patient?" I rolled my eyes at him. He's been trying to snatch this book from me all morning.

"Ally! Why are you hesitating to give me the song?" He took a seat beside me on the piano bench and slithered his arm pass my neck and rested it upon my shoulder. As he did, I started to feel the blood rush through my veins and the beat of my heart trying to break through my chest. It was only him that could make me feel that way...

He looked me straight in the eyes and lowered his voice. "Come on Ally. You promised me that you would let me see the song four days ago." He eyed me and noticed that I was still hesitating to give him the song. "Ally, you're song writing has improved by a lot and you know me well enough to write songs that suit my style."

The only thing I could focus on was his brown eyes. "I know Austin, I just-" God, he was just so cute. I couldn't even remember when I was starting to feel for him this way. What would he say when he sees my song and realizes its how I feel towards him? He would probably think that it's a song I wrote for how he feels towards Cassidy.

"If there's something I don't like, I'll just tell you that I don't like it like I usually do." He pointed out. "Then we can change it."

"Alright... I'll give you the song and you can read it overnight..." I hesitated. Even I knew that I'd be blushing throughout this rehearsal if he started to sing the song.

"Thanks Ally! You're awesome!" He said enthusiastically.

Austin then leaned in and gave me a quick peck on my cheek. I gave him a smile and he leaned in closer. I think he was going to kiss me... I flushed in embarrassment. I've never kissed a boy before... What do I-

"Austin!" Cassidy yelled out as she opened the door.

Austin jumped from his seat and leaned against the grand piano. "Hey Cassidy!" He panicked. "What's up?"

"Let's go rehearse?" She asked, pointing outside. She then spotted me and gave me a nod. "Unless you still have business to attend too here..."

"No. Me and Ally are done talking. Right Ally?" His face was flushed in embarrassment as he turned to me making that 'we're done here right? Cassidy needs me so can we finish' kind of face.

"Uhm... Yeah..." I tried my best to give him a smile. "I'll see you during lunch to talk about the song."

"Thanks Ally!"

And he was gone out the door.

I never really understood our own relationship. He was always so nice and caring towards me. At school people always thought that we were dating or were going to date sometime in the future. At times I thought that he felt the same way towards me, but then Cassidy would come along and he would just... become distant.

I sat there for what felt like hours in confusion about our relationship, but really it was only five minutes.

"Guess who got a job as a counsellor!" Trish came in, flinging her arms out in the air. She was now wearing the official camp instructor uniform. A red polo shirt and a pair of beige shorts.

I looked at her, trying to suppress the dreaded look on my face. "That's great! What happened to being a swimming instructor?"

"Apparently you had to get in the water and do things." Trish pointed out. "Oh and apparently you're not allowed to leave your students alone in the water for four hours straight."

"Oh Trish. That's so like you." I said, as I stood up from the bench.

"I make fifteen dollars an hour and I get to go to the counsellor's lounge!" Trish said trying to hide her excitement. "I don't have to eat any of that vomit anymore!"

"That's good!" I was still distracted by my whole Austin situation.

"What's wrong?" Trish asked as she made herself comfortable on the wooden chair beside the door. "Is it Austin again?"

"Yes." I started to fidget with a lock of my hair. "I mean no, I mean maybe..."

"You know what would make you feel better?"

"What?"

"Getting food from the counsellor's lounge!" Trish said before she took my hand and dragged me out the door.

"Trish I-"

"There's pickles!" She interrupted.

I did love my pickles. For some strange reason, they didn't offer any to the students. We took a vote and apparently I was the only one who wanted pickles in the cafeteria. It would be really nice to have some right now. "Okay!" I agreed excitedly.

Fourteen minutes later I found myself waiting outside of the camp counsellor's lounge for Trish to come back with their luxurious food- well compared to what we got, their food was way better.

"Hey Ally." Dallas came from behind me. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh hey Dallas." I said, giving him a smile. "I'm just waiting for Trish..."

"Ohh I see." We both stood there awkwardly.

I didn't really know what to say. He was my crush before Austin and he started dating Cassidy shortly after. It was really weird for me.

"How are you and Cassidy doing?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I haven't seen her in awhile. She's been busy with Austin. She wants to do a duet with him for the 'Rockin Bash'." He sighed.

I watched him take a sip from his straw. He looked a bit hurt. Austin and Cassidy have been spending a lot of time together since the announcement of the upcoming bash. I didn't know that Cassidy wanted to perform with him though...

I tried my best to put on a smile. "What are you doing for the bash?" I asked, trying to take interest. At least I didn't make a big fool of myself in front of him anymore. I was actually able to have normal conversations with him nowadays.

"I'm not sure. Cassidy wants me to play guitar in her band..."

"Oh..." _Everything just has to revolve around her, doesn't it?_

"That's so embarrassing!" A student yelled from outside. A few dozen laughs came right after.

Students in the cafeteria started to flood towards the door to see the commotion.

"What's going on?" I asked, bewildered.

"I don't know... Let's go check it out."

Dallas and I walked alongside the crowd, trying to cut through crowd of people who came to a stop.

"He's always so nice to me, but his actions leave me confused..." A familiar voice came from the front.

I walked and shoved everyone until I was at the very front- Dallas was standing close behind me. My eyes wandered a long to Austin who was standing up one of the smaller yachts, a microphone in one hand and- MY BOOK IN THE OTHER. WHERE DID HE-

"I wish I could tell him how I feel..." Austin kept reading, confused. It was like he had no clue as to what he was saying.

"Oh no..." I whimpered. He was reading how I felt towards him on paper, before I decided to put it into a song.

"Ally, Are you okay...?" Dallas asked as he placed one of his hands on my shoulders. "You look kind of pale..."

"I just want to tell him..." Austin continued. "I want to scream it... I, Ally Dawson have a crush on you Austin Moon."

"Noo..." I whimpered once again.

Austin dropped the book down to his feet, the first thing his eyes settled on were mine. Everyone started to crowd around me and their laughter started to fill the air.

"I knew it!" A random student pointed out from the back. "But he's way too good for her!"

"I-" I tried, but the words wouldn't come out. My throat all of a sudden felt tight and my head started to feel all light. _How could he do this to me? I told him that he could never touch my book... I trusted him... _

I was trying my best to hold in the tears, but I couldn't. _I trusted him... He read my book..._ _I. Trusted. Him._

I looked around and found a smirk curving upon Cassidy's face. She was standing right beside Austin.

"Ally..." He mouthed.

I didn't know what to do. Before I could even defend myself, I was already running. I was trying my best to break through the crowd, and maybe run into the forest. I just wanted to bury myself in a hole and wake up from this terrible nightmare.

"Ally!" I heard Austin yell out from behind me.

I couldn't face him. Not now. I was filled with rage and disappointment and embarrassment. I was just so overwhelmed with emotion... I had to keep running.

"Ally!" He called out again, and this time he grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him.

"How could you!" I snapped ferociously, as I pulled my arm out of his grasp. "I told you to never touch that book!"

"Ally, I didn't know it was yours... Cassidy she tricked me." He tried. He was gasping for air.

I rolled my eyes, then continued running away from him.

"Ally! I'm sorry!"

"Don't talk to me! Ever again!" I snapped once more.

"Ally!"

And I guess you could say that that was the last time I've ever talked to him... or well for now at least...


	2. The Beginning of my End

**(A/N): I usually have slow beginnings, so I'm sorry if it bothers some people. I guarantee that it will get better though. I've thought of this storyline when I was younger, so I know what goes on until the end. I guess I just wanted to put my ideas into action and I chose 'Austin & Ally' for it. So please be patient with me and enjoy! :D**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Trish and I walked along the shores of the beach in need of something cold to eat. The sun was shining bright as ever and even I felt like I was going to melt by its strong rays. Our last day of spring break was over and now it was time to go back to school to complete the rest of our senior year.

"Let's make a quick stop at Scoop's to get some ice-cream." Trish suggested, as she took a ponytail from her wrist to tie back her curly hair. "It should be right around the corner. I'm sure we won't be late."

"Sure." I agreed. Ice-cream did sound like the perfect thing to eat during this kind of weather. We still had another half hour before the bell would ring. A quick stop would be fine.

We made a turn and headed straight to the mall.

A couple of minutes later, we were standing next in line to order.

"Next." A blonde, called from behind the cash register.

"Two scoops of Fruity Mint Swirl in a cup please." I ordered and gave her a smile.

"That will be four seventy five." She looked at me, ready to take my money. I gave her a five and told her to keep the change.

Before I could even put my wallet back into my bag, the man with the hairnet was already done with scooping up my order. I loved it when workers were quick to serve their customers. "Thank you." I said before I headed to take a seat beside the window.

It didn't take long for Trish to get served and join me.

We sat there for awhile in silence, both of us were enjoying our ice-creams.

"Did you finish your homework?" I asked Trish who was halfway done with her ice-cream.

"Homework? Since when have I done homework." She laughed and I joined in seconds after. It was true. This girl never really did any of her work. It was almost amazing as to how she was still passing all her classes with C's.

I stared out the window and noticed a red convertible pulling up into the driveway.

"Oh great..." I mumbled, seeing the group of what you might call the 'popular' kids from school. I rolled my eyes at their need to make such a loud entrance. "Trish let's go."

"What why?" She didn't even notice who came in through the door. "I'm almost done my ice-cream. Hold on."

I stared back at the group, their volume was increasing by the second and it irked me as to how they were getting customers to leave the store. This wasn't their territory. My old self would have told them to be quieter, but my lectures would never stop them. My dad told me to just leave them alone, even if I was the president of the Mall of Miami Association...

A midst the crowd I spotted the queen and the king -Austin and Cassidy. It still amazed me as to how days after his big announcement of me having a crush on him got them to start dating. If hurting me is what gets two people together, then that was another great reason for me to hate him.

"Hurry up Trish!" I nudged her and she was still devouring her ice-cream as fast as she could.

"Ally, why don't you calm down and let me eat!"

I rolled my eyes at her, and tried to make myself comfortable in my seat.

"Hey you guys!" Dez called out, heading towards our table. "Are you guys ready for school?"

"Yeah..." I said giving him a smile. He snagged a seat from an empty table and sat with us.

Even if Dez was Austin's best friend, he was always trying his best to keep the friendship between me, him, and Trish strong. He didn't want us drifting apart. It was really weird though; thinking that he has matured over the last few years wasn't something I was expecting. He wasn't as eccentric and awkward as before.

"Geez Trish, you should calm down with that ice-cream..." Dez said, eying Trish like she was a maniac. This is what she gets for ordering four scoops. I on the other hand barely took five spoonfuls to eat because of the nuisance that just had to enter the store.

"Excuse me. I'm trying to eat here!" She glared at him, and then continued on with her munching.

"Oh yeah... Ally." Dez said turning back to me. "My mom said that she ran into your dad at Sonic Boom not too long ago. She asked me to pick up a guitar for her there later this week."

One of my eyebrows quirked upwards in surprise, "Your mom plays the guitar?"

"Well... She's learning..."

"Really? Since when?"

"Oh she just-"

"Dez." The blonde haired boy interrupted our conversation.

"Hey Austin." Dez greeted his friend. "We were just talking about my mom's new hobby of playing the guitar."

I stared at Austin and I could feel heat radiating off my skin. Even when I looked at him, my temper would go up.

"Oh I see..." Austin replied and then looked behind him at his clique. "We're leaving soon so..."

"You remember Ally." Dez interrupted, trying to acknowledge my presence. It was like no one cared about Trish sitting there across from me. I would rather have had them ignore me instead of the other way around.

"Oh... Hey Ally..." Austin said, awkwardly.

I tried my best to give him a smile, but even I knew that it wasn't very convincing. "Hi." I murmured.

"Austin!" Cassidy called from the counter. "We're leaving!"

"Coming!" He called out and then nudged Dez on his arm.

"I'll just walk with Trish and Ally to school." Dez replied. Austin was about to throw a fit, but I knew that he was feeling as awkward as me.

"Alright..."

With that, he was gone.

* * *

I walked through the heavy steel doors, finding myself back in the high school I just wished to leave. In the beginning you'd think that high school would be the best years of your life. It could be, but after years of never ending homework, you'd just want to get out. Even for someone like me – I was dying to leave this school... Not that I hated the work, I just felt like it was time for me to learn something new.

"Ally!" Dallas came from behind me, wrapping his free arm around my waist. "I missed you..."

_**Okay, so maybe I could be kind of a hypocrite for mentioning the fact of how Cassidy and Austin got together days after the incident. Dallas and I got together not too long after that incident too. I guess you can say that I was the one comforting him when Cassidy dumped him. And well... You can say, sparks kind of flew..._

"I missed you too Dallas." I looked at him, meeting his eyes and he leaned in to give me a quick peck on my lips. I looked at him, stunned. "Dallas, you know how I feel about public displays of affections... " I started to lecture him. "I only approve of hugs and hand holding."

"I know, but I missed you Ally. Don't make me wait until no one is watching."

"Yuck. You guys are being cheesy again." Trish pointed out before she turned to look at Dez. "C'mon ginger. Let's meet them in class."

"Hey! Don't call me that!" Dez bickered, as he followed Trish into the science room.

"Have you seen your hair?" Trish spat back. "Don't deny the fact that you are a ginger!"

And after all these years, those two are still frenemies.

"So how was football boot camp?" I asked Dallas. His muscles were looking well toned, even if it was only two weeks of training.

"It was okay. It would have been better if you were there..."

I blushed. He was just so cheesy. "Awes, Dallas. You're too sweet."

"Get into the classroom before you're late." Ms. Livingston called from behind us. "Ally. Dallas." She acknowledged us and gave each of us a nod when we turned to look at her.

Both of us wouldn't dare go against Ms. Livingston's wishes. She was a bit scary...

We both walked into the classroom, taking our designated seats. There were only fourteen of us in her class this semester. A lot of students were afraid of her and her strict rules, so they all transferred to Mr. Crawford's class instead. The rest of us were too late when it came to transferring. His class was full. Sadly... I just had to have Cassidy and Austin in my class... Them and half of their idiot friends.

"You guys have all failed your dynamic equilibrium quiz before the break." Ms. Livingston was quick to cut to the chase. "Of course not all of you have failed..." She turned to look at me and gave me a smile. After, she turned to face the rest of the class. Disappointment was filling her face. "Sadly, when one fails, all of you fail..."

"Ms." A boy named Jake tried – one of Austin's 'homies'. "Not all of us are as motivated as Ally Dorkson... and you give us way too much work." I rolled my eyes at his need to create an insult at my last name.

"Yes Mr. Styles I have realized that..."

"So you're going to let that quiz go?" He sounded with hope.

"No... I have decided to create an assignment that will count for twenty five percent of your final mark."

The whole class groaned in pain and disappointment. I on the other hand was feeling a bit excited to hear about the upcoming assignment...

"Oh shush." She continued. "This is what you get for joining my class."

"It's not like we had a choice." Another one of Austin's 'friends'- Jacob murmured from the back of the class. I could hear Austin's chuckle from behind me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes again.

"Relax. This will be done in partners."

Hope was once again filling the classroom.

"But I'm deciding who you get to work with..." She continued. "You guys seem to love socializing, so I'm going to have to teach you guys from a different point of view."

"Ms." Jacob whined. "You're already giving us a project. Why can't you let us choose our own partners?"

"Because Mr. Poole, this project won't work if you're not with the right person."

"You're not a matchmaker."

"But I have the power to fail you." She said in her stern voice. The class was now filling with the 'ooh's' and the 'burn's'. "Now please, when I call out your names, please sit with your partner. This then will determine the seating plan for the rest of the school year."

She proceeded to taking out a piece of paper from her briefcase and started to call out all the pairings. "Jacob Poole, Anastasia Dessen."

The list kept pouring out...

"Trish De la Rosa, Dez Fisher."

I sat there, waiting for my name to be called.

_**This here is what you might say, half the beginning of my complicated senior year._

"Cassidy Holmes, Dallas Grey."

_WHAT? MY BOYFRIEND WITH HIS EX? ... _I was fidgeting now. The number of free students was decreasing and _his _name was still on the list... The thought of having Dallas and Cassidy reunite was taking over my imagination too... I couldn't help, but chew a piece of my hair... It was all so nerve-racking...

"Janice Van, Samantha Van der Hoose."

Students were standing up and shuffling their way about the class to get to their seats. I was sitting there, staring at Trish roll her eyes at Dez.

_**Then it came. The other half of creating my complicated senior year._

"Austin Moon, Ally Dawson."

She continued on, and I really wanted to object. _Him. Him. Him. I. Hate. Him._ I was practically screaming out no at the top of my lungs in my head. I just knew that she was going to pair us off together... I just knew it. She tried once during our sophomore year and it took me hours to beg her to get me out of it.

There was absolutely no way was I ever going to work with Austin again... From past experiences, he wasn't very diligent to work. _I'll just talk to her after class..._ I kept chanting those seven words over and over again in my head. _I'm her favorite student... She just has to let me switch with someone else._ After all, she did let me before.

I started to fidget with my pencil as I heard Austin take his seat next to mine.

"Your first part of the project is quite simple. Just get to know your partners. Ask about their hobbies and their personal lives..." Ms. Livingston instructed. "Of course, if your partner is willing to share enough information."

"Once again Ms, you are not a matchmaker." Jacob murmured. For once, I had to agree with him. This was awkward...

The awkwardness wasn't only lingering between me and Austin. Everyone was with someone they felt most uncomfortable around. It was really weird... What was Ms. Livingston planning?

"Hey Ally..." Austin greeted cautiously, keeping his distance away from me.

"Hi." I murmured under my breath. _I. Don't. Want. To. Work. With. You._ I turned around to see Dallas, already trying his best to re-get to know Cassidy. Flames were burning in the pit of my stomach. I did not like that girl at all...

"How are you?" Austin asked. "How's life?"

_Like you would care about my life. I'm not interested in yours so you shouldn't even try to be interested in mine._

"Look, I'll talk to Ms. Livingston after class too see if we can switch partners." I said; my voice strained. "I've done it before, and I'll do it again."

"Ally, I'm fine with being your partner." He said, his brown eyes meeting mine.

"But I'm not fine with being yours..."

"Why not? Let's just forget the past and start all over."

Of course. It was like Austin to be able to get comfortable with talking about his feelings just like that. This is like a repeat of our sophomore year. We had this very same conversation when he came to sit beside me. "I did Austin. Without you." I rolled my eyes at him.

"But I mean between us. Let's restart with me in your future." He gestured his hands from his left to the right in an attempt to make a point about the difference between past and present.

"I'd rather not Austin." I mumbled. I really was trying my best to control my rising temper. I absolutely did not want Austin Moon in my future. I didn't care if I was holding an immature grudge. I. DID. NOT. WANT. HIM. THERE.

He pulled his stool closer to mine. "C'mon Ally. I've tried my best to avoid you for three years for your sake."

_For my sake...You wanted to be one of the 'popular's' since our freshman year... You would always ditch me for them... You would never pay attention to what's important to me... _

The memories were making my fist clench. "How about you try for another ten?"

"Ally. This is our chance to be friends again... This is like fate!" There was hope in his eyes...

"Friends? Austin, get it through your head. I. Don't. Want. To. Be. Your. Friend." I emphasized not and friend.

"Ally, you know I am sorry. Stop holding a grudge over something that happened years ago." He murmured. "It's immature..."

I ignored his comment to open up one of my notepads. "Just write a paragraph about yourself on a piece of paper and I'll do the same. We'll switch when the bell rings and I'll ask Ms. Livingston to change our partners." I turned to look at him. "Okay?"

"Yeah..." He hesitated. "Sure..." He seemed to look somewhat disappointed, but I wasn't going to fall for it. He didn't care about me and I sure as hell didn't want to care about him.

* * *

**Was it okay? Sorry for any grammar problems and spelling mistakes. Oh and thank you guys for all the reviews for the Prologue. :) I got more than what I was expecting. **


	3. Meeting Halfway?

**Chapter 2**

Her exact words were "No Ally, You won't learn anything. Besides, I think you guys could make a good pair. Even if you're my best student, maybe you'll learn something else that will help you in the future."

God. Ms. Livingston had to choose now to become a wise woman who cares about our future. I was practically down on my knees trying to get her to switch Austin with someone else. Jake, Jacob, anything... Sadly she just wouldn't budge.

"It's just one project, I'm sure you'll be fine." Trish said, updating her resume on my MyTab. "Now back to me. I'm running out of places to apply too."

"Trish, you got fired from every place in the mall last year. It's a shame that you didn't get an award for working at every store."

"They just don't understand my terms of not working on weekdays..." She paused. "Oh and weekends."

I laughed. Every employer in the mall knew her. How could they have hired her when they all knew about her terms?

"I'll see you at the party this Friday." A friend of Dallas from the football team gave him a nod.

"What party?" I asked Dallas who came to sit beside me at our lunch table.

"Oh, Austin is throwing a party this Friday." He replied. "The one he has every year during spring break."

"Spring break is over."

"Yeah, but he was on vacation this year so he decided to have one when we came back."

I've never been invited to any of Austin's parties. He always had one when we were on break or when he had to celebrate some kind of occasion. I think he was going to invite me once, but Cassidy stopped him. She said I wasn't worthy enough to attend his parties. It's not like I would in the first place. I only go to one party a year and adding two would be quite the hassle.

"Are you going?" I asked, watching Dallas eat his sub.

"I won't if you don't want me too... It's not that great anyways. It's the same thing every year..." He didn't sound very convincing.

"I have to watch the store this Friday... We can't hang out." I hesitated before speaking again "You should go though..." It was our senior year. I didn't want him missing Austin's parties all the time just for me. Dallas was still friends with half of Cassidy's friends, so he was obviously always invited.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... I'll be fine." But really I wasn't. He was already partners with Cassidy. Him going to that party would be like a way to get them back together... I saw how she was looking at him back in chemistry. It looked like she still had feelings for him...

"Or you can go job hunting with me." Trish suggested. "You can try and make me look good. Tell people I am an awesome employee."

"Oh Trish, you're probably going to run out of places to apply too before you turn twenty."

"Then I should be in the Guinness book of world records."

We all laughed. My first day back to school wasn't as great as I wanted it to be...

* * *

"I'll be back in an hour Ally. Can you watch the store?"

"Yes dad." I walked over to the counter where the cash register laid, taking out my notebook.

"Thank you! I won't take long."

I smiled at my dad, reassuring him that everything would be fine. I have been working here since forever.

I opened my binder, taking out the list of questions Ms. Livingston gave us a few seconds before the bell rang.

_**Question 1: Before getting to know about your partner, what kind of person do you think they are? Give your first impression**__._

That shouldn't be hard. I can give two impressions of Austin. The first time where he stole my song and performed it on the Helen Show or, the time where he told everyone at the camp how I had a big crush on him. Either way, both of them aren't very appealing stories. Except for the fact that one led us to becoming best friends and the other one led us to stop talking to each other.

I tapped the screen of my MyTab to open up the video option. Ms. Livingston wanted us to be 'creative' with this 'chemistry' project. I decided that it would be better to do a video diary. Besides, writing it would take long and it's not like this project mattered that much too me. I for a fact knew that she was going to somehow connect this experience to equilibrium, so this whole 'getting to know each other' thing must be some kind of hoax to cover up her actual plan.

I stared into the video screen and began to talk. It's not like we had any customers today.

"My very first impression of Austin Moon..." I began, but came to an immediate pause. I really didn't know what to say.

"Hey Ally!" I saw Dez call out from the corner of my eye. "Whatcha doing?"

I looked up at him, seeing Austin trailing along behind him.

"Oh hey Dez." I greeted, completely ignoring Austin who was busy taking a look at the guitars. "I'm just getting started on our chemistry project..."

"Already?"

"The sooner the better..." I gritted through my teeth.

"Trish and I decided to start tomorrow after school." Dez said. "She's coming over to my house and we're just going to go through the list of questions."

"Yeah, well you and Trish aren't exactly on bad terms with one another..."

"Tomorrow?" Austin was now paying attention to our conversation. "You promised me that we were going to the beach to create a new video for the website."

"Sorry Austin." Dez apologized. "I'd like to get this project over with too."

_A video? Austin still makes videos? He's still an internet sensation? _I pretty much cut him out of my whole entire life after that incident...

"Why don't you and Ally meet up to do the project too?" Dez suggested.

"Oh I don't know Dez, I have to watch the store tomorrow too and-" I was trying to come up with an excuse. I'd rather finish this project without having to talk to Austin at all.

"Then Austin will come here and you can watch the store together while doing the project."

"Yeah, but-" I tried.

"I wouldn't mind." Austin said, skimming through the list of questions.

"Great, then we can do the video on Saturday." Dez said and then turned to look at me. "Oh yeah Ally, the guitar... my mom is waiting outside. She has yoga to go to."

"Oh right. Sorry." I leaned down to reach for the guitar that my dad propped up in one of the shelves'. "Here you go." I said handing it too him.

"I'll just run out and give this to her." Dez said, gripping the handle. "I won't be long. Be right back."

Before I could even protest, he left me alone. In the store. With _him_...

"So..." Austin tried to make small talk. "You're answering the first question right now?"

"Yeah." I murmured.

He reached out for my MyTab, tapping on the screen. "A video diary? That's pretty awesome..."

"Don't touch my MyTab." I spat, taking it away from him.

"Sorry..."

"And yes, I think it would be better if we did a video diary." I tried my best to keep calm.

"That's cool. Can I see what you recorded?" He asked, meeting my eyes.

"Why? So you can show it to the rest of the world?" I rolled my eyes at him and broke the eye contact. Even if I hated him, he still had those brown vibrant eyes...

"Sorry..." He shrugged, stepping away from me. He then cleared his throat before deciding to speak again. "Ally, if you really want to get this project done and over with, we're going to have to work together..."

"We can communicate by texting instead of talking..." I suggested.

"And in class? Ms. Livingston wouldn't approve of that..." He sighed. "It's only for two months. You can at least pretend to like me..."

"I'm talking to you right now aren't I?"

"Well... how about we make some kind of promise...?"

"What kind?"

"We can try to get this project done in less than a month if we at least get along..." He murmured. "Even I know that you're smart enough to know that two people can't get anything done unless they work together..."

I exhaled. He was right. I started to remember the times where I use to write songs for him. How he was always late for our practices and how nothing was getting done. "Yeah, you're right." I murmured.

"I'll do anything you say..." He said in a low voice. "Before you know it, we'll be done and I'll be out of your life for good..."

"Alright." I said. My dad did tell me that there are going to be times where I have to work with people I don't like. He said that it will be okay and in the end I'll become a stronger person.

Austin smiled, stretching his arm out as if to show that we made an agreement. I shook his hand and gave him a nod.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked, his eyes filled with hope.

"Four o clock sharp." I hesitated. "Don't be late, or we're sticking with my suggestion of only texting..."

"Alright." He said, happily.

How hard can it be? I'd only have to act like I'm okay with working with him for a month. If we work well enough together, we can be done in less than a month and I wouldn't have to talk to him for the rest of my life...

_But of course... I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Agreeing to act like you can stand someone can only go so far..._


	4. Spend More Time Together

**Chapter 3**

"Guess who got a job at Chinatown?!" Trish announced, posing her arms out into the air.

"Trish, you in Chinatown? You're not Asian." Dez teased, trying to hold in his laughter.

"I thought you were going job hunting on Friday." Dallas eyed her in suspicion.

"Well it is Trish." I said, laughing. "The longest she ever kept a job was for four days."

"I get free fried rice and fortune cookies! I don't have to cook myself food for like two days!" She said, excitedly.

We all sat down on the freshly mowed grass, waiting for our game of football to officially start. We were in phys ed and it was decided to play a game while alternating players from time to time. Half our class was gone thanks to the yearly 'Senior Year Production' – a show put on every year where only seniors could participate. It was like a yearbook put into a video. Yearbooks for the popular people at least. They were the only ones who joined. Everyone else like me was way too intimidated.

Right about now the auditions should have started.

"Ally Dawson?" Secretary Jones called, a few feet away from the field. "Principal Mallone would like to see you..."

I stared at her in confusion. The secretary of this school always looked so strict and poised. Her brown hair was always in a tight bun and I always wondered if she ever smiled before. I think she would be able to work wonders if she owned her own company.

"You probably won another award." Dallas said, giving me a wink.

"I don't know. I think I would know if I did."

He leaned in giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck."

_**But really, what had happened in that office pretty much added on to my horrible post-spring break issues._

I sat outside Principal Mallone's office chewing a lock of my hair. If I was receiving some kind of award, I would have known about it. I do keep track of these things after all. He tried to surprise me once, but it didn't turn out very well. He promised me that he wouldn't do that anymore, so I was suspected that something bad had happened...

"Miss Dawson, you may come in now."

Just when I finished chewing on my hair, I had a need to chew on it again. I couldn't though. At least not in front of the principal.

"Ally Dawson." He gestured me to take a seat as soon as I entered his office.

"Yes?" I squeaked, closing the door behind me. I then proceeded to taking a seat in front of him.

"I don't know how to say this Miss Dawson..." He sighed while stroking his chin with his forefinger. You could have practically heard the stubble scraping against his finger.

"What is it?" I asked, fidgeting with a lock of my hair.

"The scholarships you applied for... None of them have been sent."

_Wow... He was quick to admit the problem..._

"What do you mean?" I cleared my throat. "I gave them all to Secretary Jones weeks before the deadline..."

"Well... It seems the files have all been lost..." He paused. "and even if we found out what's going on, it would be too late for you to reapply."

_**I spent months trying to find the right scholarships for me. Ones that didn't involve too much socializing. Ones like cloud watching or helping kids play the recorder. Every weekend since the beginning of the school year, I've been trying to fulfill the requirements for these scholarships. Wouldn't you be outraged if all of a sudden the records and your forms for those scholarships all of a sudden just disappeared?_

I was furious, but I was too stunned to even yell. Who would take my files? "You can't do anything?"

"Well there is one scholarship, but you're going to need to join a club, or at least participate in something..."

"I participate in everything!" I was in panic mode and well now losing my temper... My dad would kill me if he found out that none of my scholarships have been sent. "I'm captain of the chess team, I take part in the student council, I-"

"Miss Dawson" He interrupted. "You're applying for a fine arts university... I applied you for a fine arts scholarship as soon as I heard about the news. It will be enough for you to last at least three semesters." He stared at me as I was now chewing my hair. "So calm down and stop chewing your hair." His usual taciturn of emotions was back.

I stopped and then sat up on my seat. Even if he was expressionless, the way his mouth twitched behind that overgrown mustache was telling me there was more for me to take in. Besides, you can't just get money that will last you three semesters... You have to do something for it. "Then what's the catch?"

"You're going to have to participate in something musical..."

"But all the musicals are done. Choir is even done. The only thing left is the senior-" I stopped, realizing what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to join the 'Senior Musical Show'. With _those_ people. With _him_... With _her_...

Moments later, I found myself standing backstage of the school theatre with Principal Mallone, watching the auditions take place.

I was really trying my best to not chew on my hair. I mean, was he going to have me audition too? _I HAVE STAGE FRIGHT. THAT CAN'T HAPPEN._

"Relax Miss Dawson, you don't have to audition." He said, reading my mind. "Mr. Moon." He acknowledged Austin who was coming our way. I slid my way behind Principal Mallone not wanting to get seen. This news was practically killing me.

"Hey!"He greeted, before spotting me behind our well-built Principal. Or at least that's what I thought... Austin was able to spot me head on. "Hey Ally! You're joining the musical?"

I nodded my head, looking past him at the stage. This place was filled with _them_. Cassidy seemed to be one of the judges for the auditions. No wonder why regular people like me could never make it. She was on the panel.

"Awesome!" He said, taking a step towards me. "So what are you doing?"

"I would like you to help her find something to do backstage." Our principal interjected, turning to give me a nod.

"Oh that's easy!" Austin said, his faint smirk turning into a wide grin. "Ally can write music!"

"But I-" I tried.

"Then I shall leave her in your hands." Principal Mallone bowed. "I will see you a few days from now to track your progress Miss Dawson."

"Okay." I whimpered. I watched his figure dissipate in the distance until he was out the door.

_What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? _

"I guess we'll be spending more time together during and after school." He sounded excited.

I rolled my eyes at him. "That's a good thing?"

"Yeah! When you think about it, we can do this project at the same time."

"That's a good point..." It was sad, because it really was.

"Ally, stop thinking of this as a bad thing!" He said, taking my hand. "You get to experience new things. And as a song writer you're supposed too."

"What makes you think that I still write songs?" I asked, pulling my hand away from him.

"You're always singing to yourself at our school pond while writing in your journal. Doesn't that mean that you're writing a song?" He asked, taking my hand again. "Let me introduce you to everyone and who you're going to be working with."

_He sees me at our school pond? That thing is practically hidden behind a bunch of bushes in the courtyard..._

Before I knew it, he led me to a different part backstage. A place filled with maybe around fifteen or sixteen other people. Some were standing beside a rack of fabric, discussing what kind of outfits should be put together. Some discussing what kind of props to be used and the rest probably just auditioned.

I wasn't listening to Austin as he tried to introduce me to all his friends.

"This is Adrianna and Martin..." He kept going on and on with all these names. I couldn't keep up. I've never been introduced to so many people in my whole entire life. Unless you count the group of senior citizens at the retirement home I go to every Saturday. That place was filled with so many oldies.

"And here are our other songwriters. James, Anna, and Curtis."

"Hey there!" I think James was the one who greeted me.

"Hi." I mumbled.

"Ally is it?" He asked, pushing Austin away and slithering his arm around my shoulder. "You were in my band class. I can't wait to work with you." He winked.

"Uhm... Yeah..." I mumbled, pushing him away from me.

"Sorry, he's a flirt..." Anna apologized.

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

"Oh look, it's the bell!" I turned around, bumping into Austin.

"Why don't we just leave together?" He asked, looking down at me.

"Why?" I really wanted to leave. My high school nightmare was coming true...

"So we can get started with our project. There's no point in meeting an hour later, when we can just start now."

_God he was making all these good points. _"Right..." I pursed my lips together.

"Just let me get my bag from Cassidy and we'll leave together."

"How about I meet you at the beach." I suggested, slowly walking towards the exit.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. "It will only take a second Ally. Besides I think it will be a good thing for me to introduce you to the director of this show." He started to drag me across the stage. "Cassidy!" He called out. "Meet our newest writer!"

"Hi." I squeaked as I was now face to face with the queen herself. I've never been this close to her. She looked so perfect. Long dirty blonde hair that seemed to rest on all the right places of her scalp. Her acne free face and her white pearls of teeth. Far away she was like a star shining off in the distance and up close you get to inspect how flawless looking she really is. No wonder why Austin fell for her... She was a true beauty.

"Hello." She managed while looking at me like I was an unwanted blackhead on her perfectly pore-less nose. "And she is...?" She eyed Austin in confusion.

"Ally Dawson." He smiled. "One of our new songwriters."

"Oh. You're Dallas' girlfriend." She looked at me again- still unwanted, not as much as the first time. But I could still tell that I was unwanted. "He certainly has downgraded..." She mumbled, but not loud enough for Austin to hear.

_Excuse me? _

"I just wanted to introduce you to her. You did say that you wanted to get to know everyone who was going to be participating in the show." Austin said, clearly not knowing how uncomfortable I was feeling.

"Oh yeah." She reached her hand out to me, gesturing me to shake it. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Cassidy Holmes. Director of the show this year."

I extended my arm out and tugged her hand for a brief second. "You too..." I murmured.

"We're going to start our project, but I'll come over to your house as soon as we're done." Austin said, grabbing his book bag from the table.

"You better." She said with a warning.

When we were finally out of the building, I could feel myself breathe a little better. Austin was still here, but I could handle his presence way better than hers. I just knew she hated me since I met her years ago. She always had and she always will... Unless her personality is just cold, but I doubt that... She was never fond of me...

"So, what do you want to do first?" He asked as we walked along the beach.

"There's a sale at Sonic Boom today, so I have to be there in twenty minutes..." I said, kicking a pebble into the ocean.

"Do you want to work here on the beach instead?" He asked, making himself comfortable on the sand. "Then I'll walk you to Sonic Boom..."

It's like it was decided by him to work here without my consent. And I thought I was the one who got to call all the shots. I took a deep breath. _I have to get along with him... _I sat beside him making sure that I was far enough to not touch him, but close enough to not make it look awkward.

If this was going to work, I was going to have to actually be interested in getting to know him. "Uhm... What's your first impression of me?" I asked, while taking out my notebook. "It's the first question on the sheet."

I watched him stare at a group of kids playing in the sand, waiting for him to reply.

"Ally, you're awesome." He said and then leaned his elbows back on the sand.

_What? _"How?" I rolled my eyes. "How can I still be awesome to you? We haven't talked in years."

"Yeah, but you're always on the honor roll. You're always putting together the next school event. You're always tutoring those who need help..." He paused. "There's a lot I can say... You're just always doing good things."

I turned away blushing. _He notices those things? _"Thanks Austin... I never knew you noticed those things..."

"Well, how can I not? Principal Mallone is always announcing it. It's not like I'm going to ignore it."

"But, I've been ignoring all the things you have accomplished." I was feeling a bit guilty. Austin was just so popular. How could he even of made time to pay attention to me?

"I haven't accomplished much... Not as much as you at least..." He said, fiddling his toes in the sand. He then turned to look at me. "So what's your first impression of me?"

"I'd rather not say." I mumbled.

"Why not?"

"The first time I met you, you stole my song... Later on that _incident_ happens and my view on you changed..." I lowered my voice on 'incident'.

"I must have said sorry to you like a million times."

"No, you said sorry to me a hundred and eighty two times." I corrected, and he gave me a weird look. "I kept count..."

"That's so like you Ally." He laughed.

"Well I did like you..." I whispered to myself. _When you like someone, don't you keep count on the things they do? Or what they say to you...?_

"What?" He asked, blinking.

"Nothing." I stammered, and then pulled my MyTab out of my bag. "How about I film you on your first impression of me..."

"But you never told me about your first impression of me..."

"I told you I'd rather not say." I clenched through my teeth.

"Then I shouldn't have told you mine..."

"But you already did." I laughed, positioning MyTab on him. "On the count of three, I'll film you."

"Okay." He said, sitting up. "Then I'll film you afterwards..."

"Uhm yeah..."

On the count of three I pressed play and he was pretty much repeating what he just said to me.

Around thirty seconds later he paused and I was about to press stop, until he decided to say something else.

His expression was a bit more serious now and I started to feel way more awkward. "Ally and I were friends when we were younger. I did something and we ended up not talking throughout our high school years... I wish that I didn't hurt her. We could have been better friends by now, but I can't change the past..." He paused. "Thanks to this project, and the Senior Year Production, I'm given another chance to be her friend again. I do wish we can be friends again." He smiled at the MyTab and his brown eyes were burning into mine though the screen.

"Cut." He said, and that serious expression washed away.

"That was pretty long." I was feeling a bit guilty. Maybe it wasn't entirely his fault for what happened back then. I never gave him the chance to explain himself. I just ignored him. I shook my head trying to shake away these thoughts of sympathy. He can't make me his friend again by trying to make me feel guilty. It doesn't work that way.

"It's number two on the sheet. I thought I would just answer that question too." He smiled, leaning down and digging his elbows deep into the sand. "So now it's your turn."

"I'd rather have you not look..." I mumbled, staring at the sheet for confirmation. _'Question 2: One wish for you or for your partner'._

"It's just me Ally." He said reaching for my MyTab. "And the other dozen kids running around the beach, but it's not like they're looking at you."

"I still don't want you looking."

"Relax Ally. Just talk." He angled the MyTab in front of me. "On the count of three!"

"Wai-"

"Three!" He interjected.

"Hi..." I said nervously. "I'm Ally Dawson... My first impression of Austin Moon?" I paused. He was looking at me. HE WAS LOOKING AT ME.

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Saved by my phone. I took my phone from my bag, seeing that I had three new text messages.

**Dad: Ally, you're needed at the store. Remember, today we're having that sale.**

**Dad: Ally, you're late.**

**Dad: Ally, Where are you? I need your help!**

"I've got to go..." I said looking at Austin. "My dad needs me at the store..." I stood up, shoving my notebook and MyTab back into my bag. "I can't believe I didn't check the time..."

We were somehow talking for more than twenty minutes. It really only felt like ten minutes...

"Do you need help at the store? I can help..." He offered.

"No it's okay... I'll see you tomorrow in class..." I managed to give him a lopsided smile.

"Too bad, I'm coming anyways..." He winked.

* * *

Sorry for an spelling mistakes or errors. I didn't really edit this one. lool. I have a test coming up and then i'm officially free for the summer. (:


	5. Two Parties In a Year

**Chapter 4**

We ran our way to Sonic Boom to find a whole bunch of people fighting over the acoustic guitars. We had too many of those so maybe fifty percent off was a little too much...

"Dad!" I called out, seeing him try to checkout a dozen people at the counter. He couldn't hear me through all the chit chat.

I tried running over to him, but I couldn't. The crowd was very persistent with keeping their places in line.

"Hey!" I yelled out to a bunch of kids playing with the drums. "That's not a toy! And that's not even part of the sale!" I shoved my bag at Austin's chest then ran over to them, intending to shoo them away. If I was here earlier, the customers would have heard about the rules and order I created to keep everything organized.

"Hey everybody!" Austin called over the crowd. I turned to find him standing up on one of the seats. He was holding the guitar that those two customers were fighting over. "You guys want to hear one of the songs I'll be singing for our school show?"

"Yeah!" The crowd all mumbled, unsynchronized.

"Then follow me!" He left the store and started strumming the guitar. Everyone dropped the instruments and followed him out.

"Ally!" My dad called out, wiping his forehead from sweat. "You're late! You're never late!"

I don't think this was a good time to tell him about the lost scholarships and me being forced to join the Senior Year Productions. "I'm sorry... The principal called me to the office..." I decided to lie. "He just wanted to tell me that I was qualified for a fine arts scholarship. I must have lost track of time. You know how excited I get when I hear that I'm qualified for something academic related..."

"Good job kiddo!" He said patting my back. "Let's clean up and put your plan into action! We'll only have a few minutes before Austin comes back."

"Yeah." I mumbled, already putting the guitars back into place.

"Wait... That's Austin Moon..." My dad said, just realizing who he was. He then took a tambourine from the floor that one of the customers dropped when Austin left the store. "You guys are friends again?"

"Project partners..." I glared at him. _Whom I am forced to like until the end of the school year..._

"Are you sure?" His eyebrow furrowed upwards. "I remember you had the biggest crush on him!"

"Dad!" I punched his arm, as I made my way over to the grand piano- cleaning off the sticky substances that those kids probably left on the piano bench. At least they didn't get any on the keys...

"You wrote 'Miss Austin Moon' all over your school notebooks." He was taking a trip down memory lane.

"Dad!" I yelled again, but he really wasn't budging.

"You'd always stare at him when he wasn't looking, and you'd always talk to Trish about what you did with him during the day..." Now it looked like he was daydreaming. _How did he even know that I talked about him with Trish?!_ "Then you came home during that one summer and stopped talking to him. What happened exactly?" He shook his head and then looked at me.

"You know..." _He really didn't..._ "People grow a part." _I started to hate him..._

"But you were in love with him!" My dad practically yelled. Luckily no was in the store. Yet. "Even I thought you guys were going to be dating by now."

"Dad! Stop living in the past!" I yelled out as I closed one of the doors and started to put my organization plan into action. "Besides, he didn't like me... He liked Cassidy."

"But he stared at you the same way you stared at him when he wasn't looking."

"Dad!" I yelled again. "Stop it!"

"Hey Ally!" Austin came back with the guitar. An awkward silence filled the air before he continued talking. "I didn't want to steal it..." He handed the guitar to me, but my dad was quick to take it from his grasp. "You have an extra five minutes... I got them to go to 'Chicken in a Bucket' to buy some chicken... He paused. "They really do listen to anything I say nowadays."

I really tried to listen, but my dad was staring at us like we were the chicken. "Thanks Austin..." I said, eying my dad. "Is there any way for me to make it up to you?"

I turned back to look at Austin trying to give him a smile, but even I could see he was eying my dad too. He was probably feeling as awkward as I was.

"Oh..." My dad finally caught on. "I'll just go and check for any people coming back..." He stuttered, while pointing at the door. We both waited until he left.

"I'm sorry about my dad." I apologized. "He's just really surprised to see me talking to you after all these years..."

"My mom would be surprised too..." Austin started to relax. "I just thought your dad would hate me too..."

_Yeah, If I told him... _"I never told him... I never talked about it to anyone when we came back..."

"Oh." He relaxed. "Well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah." I said, getting ready to lead him out the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow night too." He said, walking towards the entrance.

"What?" I blinked.

"My party." He laughed. "You're coming."

"No I'm not..."

"It's not a question. I'm saying you are." He smirked, grabbing his book bag from the couch he was standing on earlier.

"I am not!" I protested, now shooing him away.

"If you want this back you are." He reached over to my bag, grabbing my MyTab then ran out the store.

"Austin!" I yelled. "Give that back!" I would have gone after him if it wasn't for the customers coming back to the store.

"Maybe he still likes you." My dad said, coming back in.

"He never did!" I snapped, getting ready to hit him.

"Well I'm letting you have a day off tomorrow. Go to that party. You deserve to have some fun..."

I frowned. "Dad..."

"The sale is today. Not tomorrow. You deserve a break after today." He replied. "Besides you need to get your MyTab back."

I scoffed. _Austin's still as playful as he was years ago. And I guess I can say that he's still that nice, caring guy too..._

* * *

"You got invited to the party?" Trish asked, as I slammed my locker door shut. "There's nothing bad about that."

"Not invited. Forced to go." We started to walk towards the science wing.

"How is that bad? That means he wants you to go." Trish said, looking over one of her resumes. "You should go to at least one of his parties. They are really fun."

Trish went to a couple of his parties during our sophomore year. She got banned for charging people at the snack table when they wanted to eat. She didn't care though; she said that it was the best profit she ever made in years.

"Besides, it's way more fun than doing calculus." Trish said, taking out her list of 'places I have not worked at yet' from her pocket.

"What happened to Chinatown?" I asked, as we made a turn.

"Yeah..." She started. "Apparently you're not allowed to charge people to view the Koi Pond. That and force customers to give mandatory tips."

I laughed. "Oh Trish, Where are you working next?"

"I'm starting at 'Ren's Relaxing Spa' tonight." We made another turn around the corridor. "I'll help you choose an outfit for tonight."

"No thank you." I said as I looked up ahead at our classroom. "I'm just going to get my MyTab and leave."

"If you say so, but I bet the evil queen herself will try to steal Dallas away from you. I heard they have been meeting every day after school since the project started."

_**Call me a bad girlfriend if you want, but I really forgot about Dallas. I'd say that I felt hurt and jealous for like ten minutes and then the hatred I had towards Austin took over. Plus the lost scholarships and the need to complete this project ASAP became top priority. But really, Dallas didn't contact me much after the announcement of the project. He would usually call three times after school. He didn't at all... And there you have it, another worry that I had to add to my list._

"You're probably right... I should stay to watch him for at least an hour..."

We walked into the half empty classroom as soon as the welcoming bell rang.

"Miss Dawson." Ms. Livingston eyed me in suspicion. "You're late."

"What? I made it just in time." I defended myself.

"Aren't you participating in the Senior Year Show?" She asked. "Your partner is there too... I suggest you complete this part of the assignment with him there. After all, you guys don't need that much time to get to know each other..."

"Right..." I completely forgot about the whole meeting for the show every first period for six consecutive school days thing. My worrying was also affecting my punctuality...

"This part is due Monday Miss Dawson." Ms. Livingston gave me a nod. "Please tell the others."

"Right..." I said again and then ran out of the classroom.

A minute later I found myself in the most uncomfortable place ever. The place with the popular people... The place with _her_... They were all gathered in the front seats at the theatre probably having a quick meeting. I snuck my way to the nearest seat trying my best to not be seen.

"You're late..." Cassidy said in a stern voice. "I thought you were the punctual type..." She walked over to me.

_Really? She had the eyes to see a nobody like me? _

"I went to ask Ms. Livingston about the project..." I tried. "She said this part is due Monday..."

"Okay then..." Cassidy rolled her eyes and then threw a booklet at me. "James will fill you in on the kind of songs needed for the show..."

"Alrights..." I mumbled, the overwhelming feeling of intimidation was taking over me.

"Oh and next time don't be late." She spat at me. "Scholarship or not. I'll kick you off the set..."

"Okay..." I murmured.

She turned to look at everyone else "Back to work everyone! We only have a month before the big show!"

"Sorry about her bitchyness." James said as soon as Cassidy was out of hearing distance. He sat next to me and placed his arm on the arm rest. "Did you hear the news?"

"What news?" I asked flipping through the book. _Who knew there were so much instructions and guidelines when making just a few songs?_

"She and Austin got into a huge fight yesterday night."

"Oh really?" I asked. I was trying my best to not look intrigued... It was Austin's love life... I shouldn't really know anything about it... But for some strange reason I was kind of taking interest in it. I started to remember his promise to her- to meet her after he met with me.

"Yeah... ever since that chemistry project of yours started, Cassidy has been throwing fits." He said. "I should know, I'm one of the people there always witnessing it."

"I don't think I should be hearing this... I'm not close to either of them." I replied. "And I know I'm not close to you."

"I think you should. You are one of the reasons why they are fighting." He said, getting closer to me. Thank God for the arm rest sitting between us. If that wasn't there, he'd be too close.

_I'm a reason why they are fighting? I'm guessing Dallas is the other reason... Today is a really good day for me to talk to him... Last time I talked to him was yesterday on the field. I wouldn't call that talking though... More like exchanging a few words..._

"You and Dallas aren't fighting?" He asked me. I could feel his hazelnut eyes burying deep into my skull. It felt like he was trying to find out all my secrets or something...

"No, why would we?"

"Oh." He leaned back in surprise. "You guys must have a strong trusting bond." He looked down at his fingers. "No wonder why Cassidy is pissed..."

"Sorry for James' behavior again..." Anna interjected, taking a seat next to him. "He likes getting close to new girls." She punched his arm.

"Uhm... It's okay..."

Even if I knew nothing about her, I was feeling grateful for having her on my team.

Shortly after, Curtis joined us and took a seat behind me on the theatre seats.

"Did you guys start writing any songs?" I asked, flipping through the booklet again. It was no use though; it wasn't like I was reading anything. Me being a problem to Cassidy's relationship with Austin was bothering me.

"We have two songs out of twelve." Anna answered, pushing James out of his seat and replacing it with herself.

James shrugged and took a seat next to Curtis behind us.

"Yeah... I feel like we're writing a lamer version of High School Musical." Curtis mumbled under his breath. "Let's take a break."

"We never started yet." I said.

"Are you guys going to the party tonight?" Curtis ignored my comment, resting his arms on my seat.

"Of course." Anna and James replied in unison.

"Are you going Ally?" James asked, trying to get close again even if he was sitting diagonally from me...

"You should. We can get to know each other." Anna said, pushing him away. "I've never seen you at one of Austin's parties before."

"I kind of have too..." I mumbled. "He has my MyTab..."

"Really?" James asked. "I'll pick you up if you want... We can go together."

"I'm fine... I'll just meet you there..."

"Good choice." Anna laughed.

* * *

"People usually wear something shimmery and fancy to his parties..." Trish said, throwing a whole bunch of clothes from my closet onto my bed. "Not like a ball or anything..."

"Trish it doesn't matter to me..." I said, folding all the clothes into a neat pile. "Just something simple and I'll be fine."

I still had to tell her about what James said early on. But I couldn't. I knew nothing about James and how should I know if he was someone to trust. I decided that I could ask Dez later on if I could find him... He would probably be the only person I'd be conversing with if I did stay to keep an eye on Dallas and Cassidy.

"Fine. Just wear this then." Trish threw a red laced fitted red dress at me. Its sleeves were as long as a regular t-shirt and the hem would be resting just above my knees. The collar was low, but not low enough to reveal my cleavage. I thought I would be fine.

"Thanks Trish." I said and then looked at the clock on my dresser. 7:15pm "Trish aren't you going to be late for work?"

"I'll be fine." She said without a worry. "I'll drive you to Austin's house."

"He doesn't live at-"

"Oh he lives somewhere better." She interjected.

Half an hour later I found myself staring at the biggest house I have ever seen. There were large windows being plastered on one side of the house. Some tinted, some clear. An empty terrace that seemed to continue to the back of the house (I wasn't really sure) with clear railings hovering the sides. Three garages on the other side placed adjacently with smaller windows hanging above them. The walls were a dark grey with a few stones being mounted on either side of what seemed to be the entrance-a simple orange door between the garages and the oversized windows. The same railings from the terrace were surrounding half of the flat roof and I could see people socializing on it.

"I've got to get to work." Trish said. "Call me about what happens!"

With that she drove off.

I walked up the smooth cemented driveway until I found myself at the door.

_Did Austin get rich over night? How did they get a house like this? They even have a perfectly mowed lawn with the perfect shade of grass..._

I peered over the one opened garage to see a red Lamborghini being parked inside it. _Yep, he got rich over night... _

There were dozens of other cars being parked about the place, but they were all old and looked somewhat beat up. Maybe a few Ferrari's at the front of the driveway but I was starting to feel like Austin had one of those too.

Before I could knock on the door someone else opened it. "Ally!" Thank God it was Dez.

"Hey!" I said, stepping in the house. The inside of the house was way fancier.

_**I'd describe it, but let's just say it's one of those new modern houses with everything about it just being so appealing to look at... I mean dark wooden floors in the foyer, an arched doorway up ahead, which led to a large living room with leather couches and a huge screen TV hanging on the wall opposite the couches. There was another one of those oversized windows behind the couches too... For now that's all I saw... That and the white carpeted staircase adjacent to the television and speakers... I didn't even get a chance to look at the other side of the room. At least not at this point in the party..._

The place was filled with people. I've never been to a party with that much people in my whole entire life. It was way hotter inside than it was outside. Even if all the girls were equally as dressed as I was, I felt like I should have just worn my usual attire.

"Where's Austin?" I asked, feeling intimidated. Everyone here was one of _them_...

"I don't know. Probably around. He goes around talking to everyone." Dez answered.

"Hey Dez!" Some bulk guy I did not recognize came our way and shoved me off to the side. He took Dez and they started to head off in a different direction.

"Okay, so now I'm alone..." I whispered to myself.

"Hey Ally! You made it!" James greeted coming over to me. The lights in the theatre were kind of dim so I never got the chance to look at him. He was tall as Austin and had dark brown hair with hazelnut eyes. He had cute dimples and really was baby-faced. "Anna is upstairs, so it gives us a chance to get to know each other." He said, resting his arm on my shoulder.

"Wrong." Anna came from the stairs. She had green eyes, with long bleach blonde hair. Her nose was pointed and to me she kind of looked like Ashley Tisdale. She was wearing an emerald colored tube top with black jean shorts. "Hey Ally. You made it!"

"Yeah..." I mumbled feeling very uncomfortable.

"We should introduce you to everyone else." Anna said, pulling me away from James's grasp.

"But Ally and I were going to get to know each other." He said, pouting.

"Go get to know someone else..."

"Uhm... I think I'd like to go to the washroom first..." I interrupted. "I drank a lot of water on the way here..."

"Oh okay..." Anna replied. "We'll meet you back down here."

"Alright..."

I ran upstairs and away from the crowd. At least there was no one up here. I was kind of wondering as to how people were getting up on the roof though. Then again his house was huge. There was probably another stairway somewhere else. I should have asked them where the bathroom was though. There were seven different doors up here and I didn't want to go through all of them...

I decided to take a guess and opened the third door on my right. A messy room with posters and pictures of him and Dez being plastered on some of the dark blue walls. Well him Dez and his huge group of friends at least. _This must be his room. Maybe I can find my MyTab and just leave... _

I walked into the room and started to search, but all the pictures were distracting me. One picture of just him and Dez at some concert. Another with him Cassidy and Dez at some park. One with James and Anna. Others with people I didn't even know. I kept walking along the room until I found a picture of just me and Austin at the beach. I remembered that picture. Dez took it of us when we were on the beach once. We all alternated to take pictures with each other. Above was a picture of him, Dez, Trish, and me from the very same day.

The day I came home from that camp was the day I ripped all those pictures off my wall and from my albums. It felt weird knowing that he kept them yet taped them to his wall, especially when he moved from his old house...

I walked along the room until I found my MyTab resting on a shelf.

"Found you!" I whispered as I walked over to the shelf. I took it and turned it on. Thank God for creating passwords.

"Ally. You made it." I turned around to find Austin standing at the doorway.

"Austin!" I jumped, dropping the MyTab to the floor.

"You found my room?" He asked, walking to me. "And your MyTab?"

"I was looking for the washroom." I replied, picking it up. "Your room was just the door I decided to open..."

"Good guess..." He laughed.

"How did you find me?"

"James and Anna... They are waiting for you downstairs..." He took the MyTab from me and set it on the bed. "You're lucky that you have the two nicest people from school in your group for the show..."

"And Curtis?"

"He's a distant one..." He sat down on his bed. "You want to do the project?"

My eyebrows knitted upwards. "You have guests... Shouldn't you be entertaining them?"

"Nah, they'll be fine. Cassidy can entertain them too... I only know them because of her."

The mention of her name was making me remember James' words from school this morning. I shook my head. _Focus Ally. Focus. Where's Dallas? _ "Is Dallas here?"

"He texted me earlier saying that he didn't want to come."

"What? Why?" Now I knew that I could go home.

"He said he wanted to hang out with you." Austin said, surprised. "That's why I thought you weren't going to come. I was just going to give the MyTab to you tomorrow or something."

I took my cell phone from my matching red purse to find seven new messages. All from Dallas asking where I was.

"Oh no..." I whispered to myself. I decided to call him.

I pressed the green button and after three rings he answered.

"Hey Dallas?" I asked, while looking at Austin who was trying to figure out the password to my MyTab.

"Ally, you're at the party?"

"Yeah... I thought you were going here so I came. Austin invited me..." _Forced me. _But I couldn't say that with him in the room.

"Oh... I thought you were at work, but your dad said you weren't there."

"I'm sorry." I really had no clue as to why I was saying sorry.

"I miss you Ally."

"I miss you too." I mumbled. Austin looked up at me, and then quickly back down to the MyPad that got disabled for one minute. "How about I meet you later? I'm not going to be here long."

"Ally. Enjoy yourself." He sounded. "I want you to have fun."

"I don't think I can."

"Sure you can... Let's just hang out tomorrow night okay?"

"Like a date?" I asked, dumbfounded. Austin looked back up at me and then back down. It was disabled for seventeen more seconds.

"Yeah. I'll pick you up at seven okay?"

"Okay."

I looked at my phone and hit the red key.

"So?" Austin eyed me. My MyTab was now disabled for three minutes.

"He wants me to stay..." I replied, throwing the phone into my purse.

Austin smiled. "Awesome! I'll introduce you to everyone."

I looked at him and returned his smile. And after three years, this was probably the first genuine smile I have given him.

* * *

**(A/N): It's a pretty long chapter I know. But I hope you guys enjoy! (: Pretty fast update too yeah? I should have been studying for that math test though. ): Oh I'm going to fail... Wish me luck! I got one more day to cram! **


	6. Familiar Feelings

**(A/N): This chapter is pretty much just part two of the party. :) I was going to add in the next day, but I felt like putting that in the next chapter. Enjoy! and Sorry for any spelling mistakes or errors. once again. :D**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Austin and I walked down the staircase to rejoin the crowd.

"There you are!" Anna came to us. "What took you so long?!"

"She got distracted when she found my room..." Austin interjected, placing one of his hands on my shoulders.

"Yeah... he had a lot of pictures..." I mumbled.

"Oh." Anna laughed before turning to look at Austin. "Cassidy is looking for you. She's at the pool."

_He has a pool too? I wonder how big that is..._

"Uhm..." Austin hesitated.

"Relax Moon. I'll keep her away from the likes of James." Anna laughed again. "And I'll make sure no one's rude either..."

I looked up at Austin. He didn't look very convinced. I really didn't want him to leave my side either. Aside from Dez, he was the only person I knew from this crowd. I didn't even know where that redhead went and I didn't want to look for him alone.

"C'mon. Not every guy here is a jerk." Anna tried again.

"Okay." He sighed then turned to look at me. "I'll only be gone for a few minutes. I'll see you later..."

"Relax Austin." But really I was trying to convince myself. "Anna's been protecting me from James ever since I met him..."

Anna laughed again. "You guys are funny." She linked her arm with mine and started to drag me away. "You don't want to keep the queen from waiting!" She called out before dragging me through another arched doorway.

_Even she knew that Cassidy resembled a Queen. _

Anna continued to drag me through the crowd and into the kitchen. My mouth dropped just looking at it. Black marbled counters and chocolate covered cabinets filled the room. She took me to the largest counter where other girls sat with stools.

"You guys I want you to meet Ally!" Anna gestured me to sit and I did so. I turned to look at the group of five other girls, recognizing all of them. Two from my art class and three from my band class. One was even from my cloud watching group. "Hey you're from my cloud watching group." I said looking at the frail brunette fiddling with her straw.

"Yeah." She replied. "Anna invites us all the time."

"But Cassidy hates us." One of the other girls scoffed.

"Don't mind her!" Anna brightened the mood. "It's Austin's parties. Not hers. She can't decide who he can invite."

I was starting to like Anna way more than before.

"Hey Ally!" James came by, taking out a coke from the large platinum fridge. He then leaned over the counter to look at me. "You want to-"

"No she doesn't." Anna interjected, shooing him away.

"One day you won't be here to protect her." James winked before leaving the room.

Anna rolled her eyes, and then turned back to us. "You guys want to dance? There's a dance floor beside the pool."

"Of course there is." I mumbled.

"So do you?" Anna asked again.

It was too late though, she was already kicking us off the stools and shooing us towards a sliding screen door.

"C'mon Ally, show me what you got!" Anna started grinding against the first boy she saw on the dance floor.

_I can't dance. I'll make a fool out of myself. _

"I'm good." I yelled out. The other girls decided to join her and I was just standing there like a wall flower. "I'm just going to look at the pool..."

"Suit yourself!" She turned around and started to dance with everyone else.

I looked around the area; the pool was at least five feet away from the dance floor. There were white lanterns hanging around the parameter that stopped at either ends of a large stoned wall being attached behind the pool. Some water was trickling down its ragged surface and into the pool with lights illuminating from the bottom, hitting against the stained stones. No one was really swimming, only dipping their legs into it as they sat down to take a swig at their drinks. The cemented grey fencing was twice as tall as me with points at the top probably used to keep intruders away. There were at least nine beach chairs taking up one side of the area and it was full of girls, probably gossiping. Still, there was no sign of Austin though. Maybe they went to talk in private.

I sighed, now realizing that this was Austin's life. A popular rich boy who dwelled in an Ally Dawson free zone for three years. I walked over to the snack table beside the screened door and grabbed a stick that held a whole bunch of fruits onto it. I then took a bite of the grape and stared at Anna who was dancing with well everyone. She seemed to be life of the dance floor. Everyone was dancing around her or trying to dance with her.

"Ally." Austin came, standing beside me.

I glanced up at him, taking a bite of a melon. He looked tired and frustrated. Two days ago I wouldn't have cared, but I was feeling some kind of sympathy for him. "Are you okay?" I asked, swallowing the green delight.

"Yeah." He looked lost and distant. "You want to ditch this place for awhile?"

"What?" I asked, almost choking on a cantaloupe. "You can't ditch your party. You have guests to entertain."

"It will be fine. I usually go out at this time to buy more drinks." He said, snapping back to reality. "I never let people bring their own alcohol. So I go and buy it."

"Really? I thought you would be the type to bring in as much as you wanted."

"I am." His eyebrow quirked upwards. "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

I laughed. "Okay, that's not what I meant..."

"I know. I'm playing with you." He smiled at me as I finished the last fruit. "I asked Dez to watch everyone and tell them I went for an alcohol run. It will give us time to do some of the project."

"I guess." I said, throwing the skewer into a trashcan. _Austin Moon would rather do a project instead of partying? That doesn't seem like him at all. _"I'm not one for parties anyways." I finished off. It could be a good thing getting away from all these people. I guess he asked me to ditch for my sake.

"Awesome!" He pulled my MyTab from behind his red cardigan. "You forgot this in my room." He laughed. "Unless you want to come back to my house tomorrow and just pick it up then."

I frowned at him and took the MyTab from his grasp. "Your house is so big. I've been too busy staring at everything in it."

He laughed again as he took my hand and led me out a side gate.

A few minutes later, we were settled on the side of a rocky road strolling down the street in silence. The awkwardness was killing me, so I started to kick pebbles from time to time to avoid it. On the bright side I wasn't feeling any hatred or anger. That wish of his wanting us to be friends again was probably going to come true. For some reason I felt it.

"So how are you and Dallas?" Austin blurted out.

"We're doing well." I replied. That was a really random question. "How are you and Cassidy?"

"We're doing well too..." He mimicked my complacent tone and then the awkward silence filled between us again.

After about ten minutes of walking in silence he stopped and grabbed my wrist. "What?" I asked, looking at his grip on me. His hand was cold.

"Let's go to the park!" He smiled and nodded ahead of us.

I turned, seeing a small park with a slide, a monkey bar set and a few swings right in front of us. Thank God, I didn't listen to Trish when she wanted me to wear stilettos. I was just wearing my regular everyday flats.

He started running and I followed behind as he never let go of me. His hand was getting warmer by the second and I felt myself getting warmer too.

We finally came to a stop at the swing set and he gestured me to take a seat. I smiled and did as he bid me to do. He walked behind me and gave me a slight push. The set started to creak as I swung back and forth in a slow motion.

"Tell me about yourself Ally." He said, giving me the same push from time to time.

"That's a very vague question." I murmured, feeling a cool breeze rush through my hair. "You want me to pull out the list of questions?"

"No, let's just wing it and ask each other questions." He said, pushing me a bit harder.

"Like what?" I asked, shoving my MyTab into my purse.

"Do you still hate me?"

_Do I? Doesn't feel like it. _"No."

"Awesome!" I can hear him smile from behind me. "Maybe we can be friends again."

"Maybe." I mumbled. "Are you sure you and Cassidy are okay?" I didn't like her and I had no clue as to how he was able to stay with her for this long.

"Sometimes you fight. It's part of any relationship."

"So you had a fight?"

He shrugged. "It's nothing you should be worried about."

"How did you ask her out?" I asked, as Austin came to a stop to sit beside me on the other swing. I've been wondering this since forever or well when I would see them together the question would pop into my mind.

"I didn't." He said looking at the rubble between his shoes.

"What do you mean?"

"People thought we looked good together. When that happens you just end up with that person because of what people say." I looked at him. That confused me. He was head over heels for her three years ago. I didn't understand as to how other people's opinions would matter. "How about you and Dallas?"

"Oh." I blushed. "We started to spend a lot of time together and I guess one thing just led to another and you know."

Austin turned to me- searching my face, and finally his eyes met mine. "You liked him for the longest time." He finally said.

"You liked Cassidy for the longest time too." I blinked in confusion. The look Austin was giving me was unreadable. Like he was happy but also sad and I couldn't tell which one he was more of.

"I guess we both got what we wanted." He scoffed.

"Well not really." Breaking away the eye contact, I leaned my head against the chain further away from him. "I liked you. Wouldn't that mean I wanted y-" I stopped, feeling my face turn red. I just had to choose now to talk carelessly.

I sat up, turning to look at him. He was still staring at me, but now there was a huge grin that spread a crossed his face. "Likewise..." He murmured while returning his focus back to the rubble.

_Likewise? What does that even mean? Likewise to what? Us wanting someone? _For some strange reason, my heart skipped a beat. And then another. And another and it wouldn't stop. It was something different, and it made me feel all weird inside. A feeling that I haven't felt in years... And admitting that I liked it felt like it wasn't an option.

I shook my head to remove the strange feeling. I was going to ask him what he meant, but he was quick to change subjects. His usual care free expression came back and I didn't want to break it again. He looked better when he didn't seem annoyed or agitated.

He reached out and placed his palm against my shoulder. "Tag, you're it." He smiled, shyly.

"What?" I blinked once again in confusion. _He never smiles like that... It's usually full of confidence..._

"You're it." He laughed, and started to run to the monkey bars.

"Austin Moon!" I yelled out as he hid himself behind a pole.

"What?" He chuckled. "You're it. Don't ruin the game."

I stood from the swings and dropped my purse to the gravel. "Come back here!" I yelled as I started my quest to capture the boy in the red cardigan. The tiny pebbles that started to sneak into my flats were doing me no good.

"You're supposed to come here." He winked, and my heart started to flutter.

_Stop being cute..._ I blushed. _Wait, what am I thinking? I can't think that. He's just my project partner._ I shook my head and ran right after him.

It was weird though. He wasn't even trying to run away from me, he was just standing there and a few seconds later I crashed into him, clumsily hugging him.

I instinctively pulled myself back to break free from the physical contact, but he pulled me back and held me close.

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to run away from the person who is 'it'". I murmured, smelling a mixture of vanilla and barbecue emitting off his shirt.

His grip on me tightened, and I couldn't move anymore. "I know. I just wanted to give you a hug."

"If you squeeze any harder, I'll explode." I said, out of breath.

"Sorry." He said and he loosened his grip.

"You could have asked me for one." I whispered, unconsciously letting my arms rise to hug him back.

"You would have said no."

Yeah, he was right. I probably would have said no. I have never thought about wanting to hug him or even making any contact with him. It was weird, in a good way though.

"Austin." A voice sounded a few feet away from us.

I pushed myself away from him to see the ice cold queen glowering down at me.

"Cassidy." He said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I can ask you the same thing." She scowled, keeping her distance.

I felt the tension rising and I started to back away from their intense staring contest.

"What is it?" He asked. The tiredness and frustration returning back to his eyes.

I retreated back to the swings, rummaging through my purse for my cell phone. No messages or missed phone calls. I'd be better off looking like I was texting someone else. I scrolled down my list of contacts and decided to text Trish.

_Trish, there is so much I have to tell you..._

"You're my ride home, remember?" I heard Cassidy say as I typed the message into my phone. "I have driving school tomorrow morning..."

"Oh yeah." I heard him reply as I pressed send.

"Ally." He called out to me. "I have to go... I'll be right back. It will only take ten minutes..."

"No it's fine. Take your time. My dad just texted me. He said that he was going to pick me up now." I lied as I looked from him to her. "I just told him to come pick me up here. He said he's really close."

"Are you sure?" He asked, and I can see the irritation taking over Cassidy's face.

"Yeah." I gulped. The intimidation was killing me. Who knew what she was going to do to me when school came back on Monday. Goodbye scholarship... But then again I was only hugging him... I'm sure he hugs all of his girl friends... Probably not alone in parks in the middle of the night though...

"Okay then..." He tried to give me a smile before I watched them walk off in the distance.

I dialed my house number and asked my dad to pick me up when they were out of hearing distance. From my house it would probably take a half hour before my dad could reach the place. Austin just had to live in the rich area of the city. I had half an hour to kill and I had to make sure that I was gone from here in less than ten minutes. I didn't want Austin coming back to make sure that I was actually gone.

I sighed with relief, but the pang of guilt was still lingering through my gut. Cassidy already hated me. She was going to hate me even more knowing that me and Austin were kind of... having a moment?

Waiting for my dad felt like the longest time ever and I had to hide behind a bush when I heard footsteps coming back. It was Austin, but I didn't really want to talk to him. He left shortly after and I came out, waiting for my dad again.

When I was finally home, I couldn't even sleep. Trish replied, but I was in no mood to even text her back. It was just a hug, but I was obsessing over it. I didn't know why, but I knew that it was way bigger than having Cassidy hate me. I wasn't even thinking about Dallas. I kept thinking about Austin and how I was craving for that touch. Again.

* * *

**(A/N): Oh and thank you for all the 'good lucks' for my test. (Thank you randomsmileyperson, ApostolicPrincessinGod, cupcake291) I don't think I did as good as I wanted though. :/ Finals are worth 50% and it sucks. ): **

**Oh and some Guest asked if they are in senior year and yes they are. :) And another guest named "Laila" asked about my other story. lol, I feel awkward trying to write a story that's Rated M and I have writer's block with that story. :/ , I'll try to write more though. Sorry. D: **

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! :D No more summer school, so if I'm motivated as I am now, I'll probably have a chapter up everyday. lool. If not, then I'm sorry. I'm leaving soonish to go traveling and I want to finish the story before I leave- or at least try too. :D I wouldn't want to make you guys wait for two weeks. So yeah. :)**


	7. Only Three Days

**Chapter 6**

"BINGO!"The wrinkly old lady yelled out as soon as she awoken from her deep slumber. "BINGO! BINGO!"

"Gertrude." I settled her down back into her wheelchair. "You were asleep, and we're not even playing bingo."

"Oh."She said innocently, pursing her lips back together. "What are we playing then?"

"Big Two." Dennis, her husband answered her question. "You're too old to even be playing games anymore."

"Hey!" She scowled. "You're older than me!"

"But my mind is younger than yours!"

I laughed to myself as I shuffled the cards again. Old couples were just so cute. They were always fighting, yet it never looked so serious or anything. It always looked like their fighting was proving their love for one another.

I set the deck of cards on the wooden table when I felt my phone vibrating in the pocket of my cardigan. I reached into the pocket, swiping the green button before pressing it against my ear.

"Hello?" I answered, staring at Gertrude and Dennis still arguing.

"Hey Ally." A faint laugh came after the greeting. It was Dallas.

"Oh, Dallas. Hi." I smiled to myself, hearing his voice. "How are you?"

"I'm good, I was just wondering if we could meet up earlier... My mom's knitting group switched the time, so I have to assist them during dinner."

"Okay sure." I started shuffling again. "I'm at the retirement home until two. I can meet you after."

"Or we can meet now." I can hear him smiling from ear to ear. "Turn around."

I turned to face a bunch of other old people sitting on couches and sleeping. "Turn around? What do you-" I stopped seeing Dallas at the doorway.

"Ally!" He called. The smile I imagined on him through the phone was the one that was currently plastered on his face.

"Dallas." I whispered. It felt like I haven't seen this guy in decades.

He walked over, and sat in the empty seat beside me. We used to come here together every Saturday during our sophomore year. He had to stop to assist his mom with her knitting club, so I started going alone.

"Hello Gertrude. Hello Dennis." He gave them both a subtle wave. "How are you?"

"Oh!" Gertrude looked at him, examining his facial features. "You're that boy from before! Daniel!"

"No sweetheart. That's not his name." Dennis was examining him too. "It's David!"

"No it is not! It's Daniel!"

They were arguing again.

"So what are we playing?" Dallas asked looking at me. It was weird looking at Dallas, knowing that I've replaced my thoughts of him with Austin. I thought that what happened in the park was only going to be a temporary thing on my mind, but it wasn't. I've been thinking about it since it happened.

"Big Two." I replied, handing out the cards.

"I used to beat you all the time." He chuckled, lifting the cards from the table.

"You haven't been playing this game since sophomore year. I've learned some tricks." I smirked at him. "This time I will beat you Dallas Grey."

"You're on Ally Dawson." He glared at me teasingly. "Loser buys winner ice-cream."

"Bring it on."

* * *

"You're right Ally. You've learned some tricks." He complimented me as we took our seats beside the window at Scoops.

I took a bite out of my Fruity Mint Swirl. Maybe this time I'll actually get to finish my ice-cream without it getting melted. It had to taste extra sweet too, especially how it was free. "Dennis may be old, but he certainly knows how to create strategies."

He reached his hand across the table, placing it on top of mine. I started to remember those small moments when Austin would take my hand or well my wrist. This time it felt different, like I didn't want Dallas' hand to be there. Like I wanted Austin's to ... _WHAT AM I THINKING? DALLAS IS MY BOYFRIEND. GET AUSTIN OUT OF YOUR HEAD ALLY DAWSON. STOP THINKING ABOUT AUSTIN. HE HURT YOU._

"How's the project?" I asked Dallas, who was mixing pieces of chocolate chips into his cup. "I heard you and Cassidy have been meeting every day after school to finish it."

"Yeah, so I could dedicate the rest of my time to you." He squeezed my hand, and gave me a genuine smile.

"Awe, Dallas... You're so sweet..." I mumbled.

"How about you and Austin?" He squeezed my hand again. "Is the project going well? I mean... you hate him..."

"I don't think I hate him anymore."

"Really?" Dallas' eyebrows quirked up in surprise.

"It's hard to hate someone who's trying really hard to be your friend again..." I mumbled, seeing a familiar red convertible pulling up into the parking lot.

"Austin really is a nice guy..." Dallas sighed, and this time I was the one squeezing his hand.

The door opened and chimes rang. I looked up seeing Cassidy drag Austin into the store. The first thing Austin saw was me and his frown turned into a smile. I pulled my hand back from Dallas and he looked at me in confusion.

Austin texted me five times since we departed from each other yesterday night. He called two times in the morning and I didn't really want to answer either. From his texts, he was probably just wondering if I made it home without getting hurt. Besides, I didn't want to be a reason as to why his relationship with Cassidy wasn't working. I didn't want to end up being called a 'boyfriend stealer'. I'd leave high school with that label forever. I wanted Austin's relationship with Cassidy's to work, and if they broke up because of me I'd feel guilty. Avoiding Austin for awhile would show Cassidy that I'm not interested in him, and maybe it could stop the fighting.

"Hey Cassidy!" Dallas waved at Cassidy and Austin who were ordering at the counter. "Hey Austin!"

I went back to eating my ice-cream. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to look at her.

I glanced back up at Dallas who was gesturing for them to come over.

"Hey Dallas." Cassidy came, and Austin followed behind her.

"Hey Ally." Austin greeted after he gave Dallas a nod.

"Hi Austin." I squeaked, and then turned to look at Cassidy who was somehow glaring at me through that fake smile. It was amazing as to how she could make me feel like an insignificant fruit fly in just a matter of seconds.

"You guys on a date too?" Dallas asked Cassidy who was clutching onto Austin's arm.

"Yeah." She used her free hand to flip her long blond hair out of her eyes. "Austin and I haven't been doing so well lately. He wanted to take me out on a date to make things better."

"I would hardly call this making things bet-" Austin tried, but she interjected once again.

"How about you guys?"

"Ally and I haven't spent much time together since this project. We're catching up." Dallas answered her question.

"Oh how sweet." She turned to look at me. The never ending glares like daggers were piercing through my eyes.

"You want to join us?" Dallas asked. Was he clueless? If he spent the last few days with Cassidy, wouldn't he know that she hated me?

"No!" Austin and I both cried out at the same time. We met eyes and I was wondering if he was thinking the same as me- It would be awkward having Cassidy here. And Dallas. In fact it would be better if it was just me and him. Or him and Cassidy. Or me and Dallas. But not the four of us all together...

"Wow, you guys must have been spending a lot of time together." Cassidy pointed out, laughing. "We'd love to join you." She said right after, gesturing Austin to take the empty seat beside Dallas.

"Great!" Dallas smiled as Cassidy came over to sit beside me.

Austin stood there uncomfortably for an extra second before actually deciding to take his seat beside Dallas. Yep. He was feeling as uncomfortable as I was.

"So how's the project going?" Cassidy attempted at a conversation. It almost felt like she was enjoying this. For a girl who hated me it would be weird for her to accept an invitation to see me more.

"It's fine." I looked down at my ice-cream that was already melting. Even the air conditioning in this store wasn't enough for it to melt a little bit slower.

"Oh yeah, Ally." The way she said my name sounded all sweet, but even I could hear how hard it was for her to even say it. "About the show..."

"Yeah?" Here it was. The end of my scholarship. No wonder why she accepted the invitation to sit with us. She wanted to embarrass me in front of Dallas and Austin.

"Starting Monday we only have three weeks until the show." She cleared her voice. "I know that we don't get that much time to prepare and rehearse, but we only have three songs and we want twelve."

Or not. I guess she wasn't ready to embarrass me yet at all. "Sorry, there are just so many guidelines."

"Yes well, it wouldn't be a great song without them. " She took a bite out of her non-fat strawberry ice-cream. "I've scheduled you guys to meet every day after school for the next two weeks. Two hours a day after school should do it."

"I have work though."

"That's what makes it good. You work at a music store. You have all the instruments there."

"Yeah Ally!" Austin interjected. "You used to write all the songs for me there. They were all great."

"Yeah Ally." She mimicked Austin's energized tone. "I'm sure you'll be able to get everyone to work. I mean let's face it, the other three are slackers and if you need help with sales, James' is excellent at bringing in customers."

"Female customers." Dallas corrected, eating his last scoop.

"They're still customers." Cassidy rolled her eyes and threw her barely eaten ice-cream in the garbage can that was near us. "You guys want to go watch a movie?"

"What?" Austin and I were once again in unison.

"Wow, you guys are good at that." Dallas stared at us in awe.

The queen once again rolled her eyes. "So a movie? Austin promised me that he would take me to see that new romance movie... You should come. They don't call it a double date for nothing."

"I'll drive." Austin offered. Not like he had a choice. It was his car and he was the only one with his license.

Twenty eight minutes later we were in the theatre. Austin on my left and Dallas on my right. Cassidy was on the edge sitting beside Austin.

When the movie started, I certainly didn't know what to do. I could barely concentrate on the movie. Dallas was there squeezing my hand during the sappy scenes. I used to love that, but I just felt so awkward. Cassidy was cuddling herself up to Austin's shoulder and I couldn't even tell if he was feeling as awkward as I was. It was too dark for me to even sense any emotions coming out of him. From time to time Austin and I would accidentally touch because we both wanted the armrest and I kept feeling guilty. His touch was making the adrenaline rush through my veins and Dallas' touch was making my hand feel sore in pain.

"You want some popcorn?" Austin whispered beside me. "...its butter free..."

I stifled a quiet giggle. "Cassidy's popcorn?"

"No... She doesn't like seeing me eat too much carbs... I get a lecture on it everyday..."

"Are you sure you should be telling me this right now? She's sitting right there..."

"She's asleep. Can't you hear her nose whistling? It only whistles when she's asleep."

I leaned forward seeing the queen resting on his shoulder. Even in the dark I could tell she was a beauty when she was asleep. The faint whistle filled my ears and I leaned back to mute it. I moved my foot, accidentally stubbing Austin's toe.

"Ahh..." He grunted as quietly as he could.

"Sorry." I whispered. "Sorry..."

This time he stubbed my toe on purpose.

"Austin!"

I leaned down to massage it. He giggled and threw a piece of popcorn at my foot. _God, his giggle is just so cute..._

"Eat some." He whispered, handing the bag out to me.

I reached into it and threw a kernel at his face.

"Ally Dawson!" He whispered loudly, getting ready to throw a fistful at me. We were giggling quietly.

"Ally." Dallas leaned forward to look at us. "What's going on?"

"I'm offering her some popcorn." Austin answered as we both tried our best to put on a serious expression. "Do you want some?"

"No man I'm good." He leaned back, making himself comfortable in his seat.

Austin and I proceeded to making ourselves comfortable too before we took a quick glance at each other. Through the darkness, he smiled at me and I smiled back.

After the movie we all left the theatre and as soon as I entered out the doors, I could feel the sun's blaze piercing through my pupils. I extended my hand out to cover the bright star from reaching my eyes.

Some kind of cheesy love song filled my ears and I glanced over to Cassidy who was pulling out her cell phone from her Gucci bag. Well, it looked Gucci to me. I wasn't really good with brands.

"Hello?" She barked into it. "What is it?"

The three of us stood there awkwardly, waiting for Cassidy to finish her call.

"Are you serious?" Cassidy kept going. "Shut up! ... No way! ... I'll be there in five!"

She slapped her phone shut and looked at us. "Austin sweetie, can you give me a ride to Jane's? She just received the purses coming from Taylor Tiara's fall collection. It shouldn't even be out yet. She's ordering me one for free!" She giggled, excitedly as she reached into her purse, pulling out white rimmed aviators.

"Uhm..." He turned to look at me, and I gave him a lopsided smile. He sighed and looked back to Cassidy. "Sure."

"Thank you!" She squealed. "You're the best."

"Bye you guys..." Dallas nodded at them. "We should do this again sometime..."

_No never. Never ever. Unless it's a movie... then well I guess I don't have to talk to her at all..._

"Bye." Austin waved as Cassidy started to drag him back to his car.

We watched them pull out of the parking lot and out onto the streets.

"It's six thirty. I have to go." Dallas finally said, reaching out and squeezing my pinky.

"That movie was that long?" I asked, turning to face him. He was really close. Way close. I can feel his breath against my nose.

"Yeah..." He whispered, meeting my eyes. "I'll call you later okay?"

"Okay..." I blinked and then looked down to stare at my toes. "I'll talk to you later..."

He leaned in, giving me a kiss on my cheek.

_This feels so wrong. So wrong... Yet, it's supposed to be right... _

I smiled at him and turned to walk away. I just wanted to get away from all this confusion. I really didn't understand why Dallas was all of a sudden just feeling like a friend to me.

He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. His strong and firm arms... Next thing I knew, his mouth was on mine, kissing me full on the lips. He leaned back after what felt like an eternity and rested his forehead against mine.

"Ally..." He paused, and then continued in hesitation. "I love you..."

"What?" I blinked, rapidly. _What? What? Did he just say that he loves me...? After three years he says he loves me? What? WHY NOW? IT'S TOO EARLY. IT'S TOO EARLY._

"I know it's random. You don't have to say anything. I'll just talk to you later." He kissed my forehead before he waved and walked away.

I stood there for ten minutes before deciding to leave. Why do guys have to say things when you don't want them to say it and when you do want them to say it, they don't? I wanted Dallas to say that to me for the longest time ever and then after yesterday night, I didn't...

Now I know why my dad gave me that lecture about love and relationships at a young age. It's always so complicated and full of drama.

I walked down the pavement near the theatre feeling confused about my feelings. I did want Dallas to say 'I love you', but thinking, really thinking about it, I don't think I was or am in love with him. I've liked him a lot, but I wouldn't call it love. I liked Austin years ago and I was starting to question if I was in love with him. I mean... what I felt for him was different compared to what I've felt for Dallas. I haven't felt what I felt for Austin in years and yesterday it all came back. Don't you hate it when you try so hard to hate a guy and when you finally do, just a few hours with that guy gets you to like him again? It was driving me insane.

_Honk! Honk!_

I turned, seeing Austin drive down the sidewalk beside me in a parking lot. "You want a ride?" He asked, giving me that smile. That stupid perfect smile.

"I'm fine." I mumbled.

"Are you sure? You've been walking back and forth down this sidewalk for ten minutes." He said, driving at the same pace as my steps.

"Ten minutes? You were watching me?"

"It only takes five minutes to get to Jane's house from here... I was driving back home down this road, and I saw you."

"That's kind of creepy... You were staring at me for ten minutes..."

"You look cute when you're confused."

I felt my cheeks turn red and my heart skipping a beat again. "I don't want to go home..." I stuttered, looking away. Going home would just make me think about this whole thing again, and I didn't want to...

"That's fine. You can come over to my house. Get to know each other, and we'll be set for Monday."

"Really? You're inviting me to your house after our double date? After what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah." He nodded, innocently.

"Doesn't your girlfriend hate me?"

"What gives you that impression?" He laughed, but even I could tell that that laugh meant yes. He cleared his throat when I shot him a glare. "How about we don't talk about relationships or this awkward double date?"

"Okay." I smiled, and got into his car.

I for one didn't want to have a discussion about this whole love square...

"Ally Dawson!" Austin's mom squealed as I stood on top of the welcoming mat into his house. "I haven't seen you in years! Come in!"

"Hi. Mrs. Dawson." She hugged me tightly before taking me into the house.

"How are you? You're still so skinny! You should eat!" She led me through the screen door and into the backyard.

"Shouldn't we be in the kitchen if you want me to eat?" She led me into a gazebo and sat me down on one of the comfy chairs.

"Yes, you stay for dinner yes? I'll make a big one with lots of meat just for you!"

Austin trailed in seconds after, a smirk spread across his face.

"When's dinner?" I asked. "It's already seven..."

"Forty five minutes sweetie!" She sat beside me, analyzing my face. "I came home late today from work. It will be a bit late. I'm very very sorry!" She got up from the seat and looked at Austin. "Take care of her! And don't hurt her this time!" She whipped the towel at Austin's chest before leaving.

"I don't remember your mom being this perky..."I said, watching her figure dissipate into the kitchen. "... and what does she mean by 'don't hurt her this time'."

"She's just surprised to see you... and well I told her about what happened." He took a seat beside me on the green polyester cushion.

"Really?"

"I went to my mom for help with trying to get you to talk to me again..." He mumbled.

"Austin Moon asked his mom for advice?" I laughed. "That's so unlike you."

"I tried talking to Trish, but she slapped me! What else was I supposed to do?"

I laughed louder. "So you went to the rents..."

"Yes..." He looked down, ashamed. "You're a very stubborn person Ally."

"I guess so..."

"Without this project, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"Well, there's the show... We could have there."

"Not as much as we would be right now."

He looked at me and gave me that stupid perfect smile again. It was so contagious. I couldn't help but smile back at him. He then reached across the glass table to a laptop and turned it on. "Okay, so let's do this like an interview. I'll ask you the questions and you answer. We'll start from the last question and work our way up."

"Okay." He seemed really determined to do this.

I watched him click a button on the side of the laptop and turn the screen one eighty, so that it would be facing me. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of what seemed to be the list of questions. I stared at him in disgust at his organization skills.

"What?" He blinked, looking at me. "If I'm given questions like this I just fold it and keep it in my wallet."

"Disorganized..." I mumbled, and he smiled.

"Okay Question One. Who is a part of your family? Do you have any siblings?"

"There's my mom and my dad... My mom, Penny Dawson lives in New York. She has this dream of being a writer. One who wants to write novels as popular as the 'Harry Potter' series. My dad lives here in Miami. He manages the store 'Sonic Boom', and I work there when he's busy handling other things... I don't have any siblings..."

In just thirty minutes, we managed to get both of our interviews done. Austin's only took ten minutes. He was quick to answer and seemed to be completely honest. I on the other hand was kind of stubborn to answer a few of them. He eventually convinced me and told me that my mark was on the line. I for one did not want my mark to suffer all because of an off topic project.

"We have a few minutes before my mom finishes up with dinner." He said, pressing save on my video. I watched him move the file into a different folder. It was really strange actually seeing Austin doing his work, but then during that long list of questions; he said that he needed to at least have a 'C' in every class or his parents would get rid of his contract with Miami's record company. That explained why he was all sudden able to afford this kind of house. After high school he was going to record an official CD with them, and I guess he would be on his way to fame and stardom.

I stood up from the green cushion, my butt feeling sore. I walked towards the pool, stretching out my arms before giving my hip a little twist. The feeling in my butt was no longer there and aside from that it felt all flat and deformed. It wasn't the biggest pool out there, but it was still pretty nice. The crystal clear water made it easy for me to see the white tiled bottom and the lights shining upwards. The sound of the water trickling down the stoned siding was the only thing filing my ears. It was beautiful. It made me feel like I was at some fancy hotel.

"You want to swim?" Austin asked from behind me. I faced him as he stood up from his seat and started to stretch.

"No, I'm still stunned knowing that you live in a place like this." I said, walking over to him.

"We got a few minutes."

"A few minutes? A few minutes is only enough to change into a swimsuit which I don't have."

He looked at me, a sly grin spreading across his face. He was getting ready to charge at me like a bull aiming for that red cloth. I stared at him stunned and before I knew it I was plunged deep into the chlorinated water. Everything went dark and I was holding my breath to keep the water from entering my lungs. In a few seconds I floated back up and gasped for air.

"Austin!" I yelled. Water was trickling down my forehead and down to my neck. I rubbed my eyelids before opening them and spotted Austin on the opposite end of the pool.

"It was revenge for throwing popcorn at me." He laughed, and then pushed his wet blonde locks out of his eyes.

"You stubbed my toe!" I was flailing my arms and legs in the water.

"You stubbed mine first." He came a bit closer to me.

"On accident!"

"Nothing is an accident."

"Then I guess that you wouldn't mind if I did this now would you?" I slapped my arms against the small ripples around me and splashed Austin in the process.

He looked at me in shock. "Ally Dawson has fun? I thought you were going to leave this pool and start lecturing me."

"That was the old me Austin." I shot back, giving him a smirk. "I'm not as uptight as before..."

"As before." He repeated before diving deep into the water.

Looking below me, I saw a distorted figure of Austin swimming his way over to me. I tried my best to swim away, but his skills were unfathomable. Making his way back up to the surface, he grabbed me by my waist until his head was out of the water gasping for air.

"Hey!" I struggled. I was now noticing how fit this boy really was. His arms were strong as Dallas', and feeling his chest pressing against my back made me notice that there really wasn't any baby fat.

"It's revenge Ally." He whispered behind me. I can feel his legs flopping beside mine underneath the water.

"Over popcorn?" I scoffed. I leaned forward, biting one of his fingers.

He was quick to let go and I whipped around to face him. He was sucking his finger, once again staring at me in awe. "You bit me."

"You were suffocating me."

He looked at me, that sincere smile on his face. "Three days Ally Dawson... It's only been three days..."

"Yeah?" I leaned back as he came closer to me.

"Everything you do seems to amaze me..." He leaned in, pressing a wet palm against my face. His fingers resting against the wet hair above my ear.

His brown eyes met mine, and I gulped. I was feeling a sense of panic yet calmness at the same time. One part of me was telling me to swim away and lecture him. Another part was telling me to stay here in his grasp- telling me that this was okay. This was perfect...

"Ally Dawson, you seem to have beguiled me..." His eyes were like a hypnotic spell on mine.

"Beguile?" I questioned weakly. "I don't remember you even knowing that kind of word when we were younger. Maybe something like hypnotized, but not beguiled..."

"Dez and I read a dictionary once during detention..." He trailed off. Leaning closer, his nose was rubbing against mine. "It was punishment..."

He closed his eyes and I instinctively closed mine as well. I felt his lips lingering in the small space between us. And then he leaned in more- closing the gap. He was kissing me, and I responded back. I could feel and hear the fireworks setting off in my head.

Three days... I've only talked to this boy for three days... Out of those seventy two hours, we probably only really conversed with each other for fourteen hours. More or less, but still... It amazed me as to how he made me feel like that three year gap was nothing...

* * *

**(A/N): Sorry you guys. We were changing our internet companies and it affected our T.V. The only thing that works is Netflix, and well I started to watch a show called 'Heroes' on it. I don't know what, but for some reason I can't stop watching it. xDD. I was really trying my best to focus on this while watching it, but it was just so hard. So sorry if you find something off or odd in the chapter. lool. I did re-read it, bu lately there's always kids at my house and i have to babysit them. **

**Enjoy the chapter! It's a pretty long one. :) And thank you for all the reviews, they really do motivate me. :D **

**Oh and, I sort of feel bad for making Cassidy such a bad character. lool. I love her in the show, but because she's Austin's crush in the show I made her a bit rude. haha. Sorry. ): **


	8. That Bitch Cassidy

**Chapter 7**

It was Monday. I usually am ecstatic to go to school on Monday's, but this Monday was different. I wasn't just ecstatic... I was feeling like what most teens call today a 'two-timing whore'.

During that Saturday night at Austin's house, Austin's mother came outside to tell us to come in for dinner. Thank God she didn't see our lips locking. We were quick to swim away and she stared at us like we were crazy for trying to swim with our clothes on. I told her that he pushed me in and then she gave him a lecture about how unsanitary and how unsafe it was. She then sent me up to one of the spare rooms to get changed. Changed into some of his clothes. They smelled like a tropical breeze and I'm kind of ashamed to have of slept in them when I got home. The dinner was delicious and I would have loved to stay longer, but I couldn't. I didn't want to make my dad pick me up so late two days in a row at a place that was far away from our house. But when I did come home that rotten feeling in my gut came back like a virus taking over my central nervous system. It occurred to me at approximately 2:33AM at night that I have kissed both Dallas and Austin in the same day. And to make it worse, Dallas told me that he was in love with me... I felt horrible. I mean he told me that he loved me and in return I kissed another boy... A boy that was pushing Dallas out of my heart and replacing it with him. That boy as in Austin Moon...

"Ally, Ally, Ally." Trish eyed me suspiciously as I opened my locker to retrieve my chemistry book.

I had no clue as to why I grabbed it. It was really pointless at the moment, but this time it was mandatory for Livingston first period students to attend her class for at least fifteen minutes before departing to the theatre. Maybe the textbook was needed.

"What?" I blinked, closing the metal door shut and snapping the lock back into place.

"You texted me on Friday about having to tell me something very important." She paused before giving me that Trish glare. "You have not replied to any of my texts since that message... Care to explain?" She leaned her shoulder against the lockers.

She was right. I didn't feel like replying to anyone. I never put Trish on hold either. I felt bad even if she always put me on hold due to her problem of 'losing-her-phone-somewhere-at-work-syndrome.' She lost her phone in a bowl of uncooked beef when she was working at the 'Fajita Hut'. "I'm sorry..." I apologized.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Ally." She scowled. "Tell me the deeds."

"Does it have-"

"Now." She interjected. "It must be very interesting. Something like you kissing Austin." She laughed loudly. "But of course that would never happen. You hate that guy."

I gulped. "Ha-Ha Trish. Pftt... You are so right... Because that would never happen. Pshhh." I started to laugh with her.

But of course, she always knew when I was lying. "Wait what? You only add 'Pfft's' and 'Pshh's when you're trying to hide something."

"What? No..." I squeaked.

"We can do this the Trish way..." She paused for dramatic effect. "...Or the other Trish way..."

Like she was giving me a choice... Then again, anything involving 'Trish's way' was usually something you would never forget. "Fine." I scowled. "We kissed..."

"YOU WHAT?!" She squawked in surprise. "Ally Dawson! What happened at that party?!"

Our walk to the chemistry room was quite slow. I confessed about everything. I told her about the party and how he asked me to ditch and go to the park. I told her about the awkward double date and the movies and how we started throwing popcorn at each other. Then I told her about the interviews, the project, him pushing me into the pool, and finally the kiss.

We stopped a few feet away from our chemistry room. We still had a few minutes before the final bell. Maybe it was enough to ask her for advice.

"Wait, how about Dallas?" She asked, as we stood at a corner. "He's your boyfriend. And Ally... he treats you like a queen... A little too cheesy, but he treats you right..."

"Yeah Trish I know..."

"But then again, you were in love with Austin when we were younger..." Trish mumbled. "And with Dallas, I couldn't even tell if you were..."

"Wait, what makes you think I was in love with Austin? Even I didn't know that."

"Ally even your dad knew you were in love with him." Trish laughed out loud. "But I still can't believe that you kissed both of them in the same day... That's so unlike you. In fact, you would usually do the right thing and avoid Austin at all costs."

"I know! It's just... There's something about him that I can't say no too..." I mumbled under my breath. "And I don't even know what it is... Trish I feel horrible..."

"Well if you like him that much then shouldn't you just break up with Dallas? I mean it took you awhile to like him again after he confessed his feelings to you."

"I forgot to mention... He told me he was in love with me too..."

"HE WHAT?!" A bunch of freshman turned to look at us.

_Riiiing! Riiiing! Riiiing!_ The bell sounded through the hallways.

"If you need a way to break up with him, I'll be happy to help." That sly grin of hers began to spread across her face.

"Yeah Trish because a huge banner with the words 'It's over' just fits perfectly." I said sarcastically. "Oh and don't forget a band. That will tie it all together."

"Exactly!"

I rolled my eyes. That moment where she fired Dallas for me at Sonic Boom years ago was replaying through my mind.

"Ally!" Dallas called out as soon as I entered the classroom. "Hey." He said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey Dallas." I tried my best to lift the corners of my lips.

"Okay class!" Dallas stopped himself from what he was going to say next to stare straight ahead at Ms. Livingston. I rushed over to my stool to do the same. "So I'm guessing you guys all had gotten to know each other?"

"Yes." We all said dully in unison.

"That's good. Now here's the next part." She started to hand out sheets as she continued with her talking. "You guys are now going to do something together."

Jacob moaned at the table next to mine and Austin's. "So now you're making us go on dates?"

"If you want to see it like that, then go ahead Mr. Poole." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"And what if we don't go?" Jacob's partner Anastasia asked beside him.

"Well, Miss. Dessen. ... I'm sure you guys are both keen to miss a day of school."

"What do you mean?" They asked in unison.

Whispers were now filling the classroom and everyone was wondering what she meant.

"I have scheduled a field trip to the 'World of Chemistry' exhibit this Wednesday." She stood in front of the classroom again. "The sheets I have just handed out are your field trip forms. I know this doesn't give you much time to get them signed, but I will need them tomorrow." She cleared her throat. "There will be an assignment that you will have to complete though." She then walked over to her desk, flipping pages in her binder. "You guys are going to have to connect what you see in the equilibrium exhibit to the very first assignment I have given you... The details are on your sheet... If you have any problems, with it please speak to me in private."

I stared at the sheet in front of me. Half of it was a permission slip and the other half was the assignment.

"We'll ace it." Austin said beside me.

"Not with your organization skills." I mumbled beside him. He was stuffing the sheet into his wallet. "Are you going to remember to get that signed?"

"Of course." He managed a smile, but it wasn't very convincing. I think the same thing that was bothering me was bothering him too.

"Alright then." Ms Livingston pursed her lips together. "Those in the show can go. And remember to get your forms signed.

* * *

"Ally." Austin caught my hand. Everyone else was on their way to theatre. Thank God Cassidy wasn't there. For some reason, she got called to the office.

"Austin." I said startled as he dragged me out of view.

"Can I ask you something?" His face was serious. I still wasn't used to the small moments where his carefree expression would be replaced with this one. When I knew him back then, he was barely serious. Even if he was, it was nothing like this.

"What is it?"

"I feel weird asking you this..." He rubbed his neck and I could see hints of rosy pink taking over his cheeks.

"What?" I blinked. _He's blushing..._

"The kiss..." He lowered his voice. "Did it mean anything to you?"

_Of course it did... _"Did it mean anything to you?" I shot back.

"I asked you first." He stood up straight, meeting my eyes.

"But you're the one asking. Wouldn't it be polite if you told me first?"

"You know what they say... Ladies first..."

"You know what I say... You first." The tip of my index finger jabbed at his chest.

"Still stubborn as ever Ally."

"I wouldn't be me without it." I laughed as the frustration on his face became clearer. "Besides, we have to go to the theatre... If we come in late, people are going to suspect things."

"I'm okay with that." He said dumbfounded.

"Austin." I gently slapped his arm. "I don't want the queen to hate me more than she already does... Besides, she got called to the principal's office. If it's not an award then shouldn't you be there to support her?"

"I know." He looked confused. "I will..."

"Okay then... Let's go." I started to walk ahead at him, turning at the next corner.

"So you're not going to answer my question?"

"Not until you answer first."

"Ally! C'mon!" He started trailing along behind me. I don't know if this can be classified as 'flirting'. I don't even know what 'flirting' is, but I have to admit that I did like teasing him. "How about on the count of three?"

"Too late, we're already here." I said, placing my hand on the metal handle. Before he could even stop me from opening the door, I opened it; Principal Mallone's eyes were in my direction.

"Ally." He greeted, walking over to me. "Joining the production isn't as bad as you thought it was now is it?"

"There are a few nice people." I said, managing a smile on his face. Cassidy was standing behind him and there was a sour expression on her face.

"Hello Mr. Moon." Principal Mallone greeted. Austin was finally in the room. "You're just in time for an announcement."

"Oh. That's cool." Austin nodded, beside me.

"Mrs. Holmes." He nudged Cassidy to walk centre stage.

Cassidy shrugged, reluctant to do as he said. "Hey everyone..." She started through a microphone. "...This is important, so you guys all have to listen."

It was quiet and all eyes were on her now. I'm guessing if something was important to Cassidy, it was important to everyone.

"Due to some issues..." She started. "...It has been decided that I cannot be director of this show anymore."

"What?" I heard James' say, surprised. I was surprised as he was.

Everyone was looking to each other for some kind of answer. Some people looked relieved, some people looked pissed. I didn't know if I should be pissed or happy about it.

"Isn't being director like a family tradition in her family?" I asked Austin, quietly. This probably was the reason as to why she was in the office.

"Yeah." Austin replied. "I don't get why she..." He stopped, staring ahead. Principal Mallone was now standing beside her.

He took the microphone out of Cassidy's hand and began to talk. "I have chosen your new director." He placed his hand onto Cassidy's shoulder as if to make sure she wouldn't run away. "Ally Dawson..." He turned to look at me. "You will be managing the show for now on."

My jaw dropped in surprise. Okay there were a lot of things surprising me lately, but this... Cassidy would hate me fifty times more for it. She looked as surprised as I was. I don't even know if she knew that Principal Mallone was going to choose me for it. I was just on a scholarship. Song writing I could handle, but an entire show... I don't think I could.

"Wow... Congrats Ally." Austin whispered beside me.

I was too stunned to even say thank you.

I watched Cassidy and Principal Mallone walk down the stairs and back in front of us.

"Mr. Moon. May I have a word with Miss Dawson?"

"Sure... I'll just... go over there..." Austin pointed over to James and walked away.

"Miss Holmes has something to say to you." Principal Mallone gestured her once again to talk.

She rolled her eyes and walked in front of me-facing me. The ice cold expression on her face. "I was the one who stole your scholarships..." She admitted carelessly.

"Oh..." That was all I managed to say. I didn't know what to say. Even if I had every right to be mad, the intimidation was stopping me.

"Cassidy will be assigned to scenery." Principal Mallone said in his husky voice. "She's very lucky I'm not suspending her..."

"Yeah..." I mumbled. I felt like it would be better if she was suspended...

"I hope this switch doesn't create any difficulties..." Principal Mallone was a bit relieved. "I will be going now. Good luck with the show."

We both watched him leave the theatre. The sound of the closing door echoing throughout the room.

"So... You're trying to steal my boyfriend too?" She said in the snobby tone.

"What?" I blinked, staring into her ice cold eyes. "No. It's just a project..."

"Oh please. Even I know that you're falling for him." She scowled. "You wouldn't want Dallas knowing now would you?"

"Knowing what? All we did was the project..." I was looking from Anna to James to Austin. My eyes trying to meet theirs for help, but they were all caught up in their own conversation.

"Yeah Ally, you're not a good liar..." She rolled her eyes and faked a yawn. "I saw you guys from the side gate on Saturday... In fact I have a video."

She flipped her phone open just to show me the proof. Stupid rich people. Even the quality was amazing. It started from the point where he grabbed me by my waist.

"Austin is just trying to make me jealous... He even said that Dallas bothers him." She was so full of herself.

"Oh really?" I felt like I had to start chewing on my hair.

"It's barely been a week Ally. You really think that Austin would end up liking you? You don't even know who he is anymore... This project is a joke. The questions are so general. Besides have you guys actually talked about anything personal? Have you even dug something secret out of him?"

The answer was no. His answers were so vague. I was always confused by it.

"It's just a project..." I mumbled.

"It better be." She smirked. "Stay away from Austin or I will ruin your relationship with Dallas..."

"Cassidy." One of the scenery workers called for it. "Are you done? We got a lot of painting to do."

"Coming!" She called out. "I'm just wishing Ally good luck." She turned back to look at me. "Oh and don't try asking anyone for help. I could destroy your social life before you can even reach anyone..."

* * *

**(A/N): It's pretty short I know. :) When I have a long chapter I'll tend to put a shorter one after. lol. I'm sorry for this late update. I'm having troubles putting the next parts together. I'm not really sure as to how I'm going to work up to the important parts and all the drama. :/ **

**I'm sorry that this is a late chapter too. Leaving soon, so I've been cleaning around the house. (: School starts as soon as I come back, so I don't want to leave this house when it's all messy. x.x. **

**To the Guest that wished I updated for her/his birthday, uhm i'm sorry I couldn't on time. Happy belated birthday though! :D**

**I hope you guys are okay with this chapter. I'll find a way to lead to something more interesting. ^^ And thank you for all the reviews. :D I've gotten so muuch. :)**


	9. Twenty Questions

**Chapter 8**

"Wait, what?" Trish's eyes flared in anger. "She threatened you?"

"Yes Trish. She did." I murmured as I continued cleaning the counters at Sonic Boom. The whole 'Cassidy-threatening-me-situation' happened yesterday. I was once again avoiding everyone- including Austin, who called me three times and sent a dozen text messages in less than twenty four hours.

I'm not very good at standing up for myself... Maybe I am, but in front of someone who intimidates the soul out of me is completely hard...

"I'm going to kill that bitch... You know I could do it!" I could see images of revenge flashing through Trish's eyes. "I am the queen of revenge. Cassidy won't know what hit her."

"Trish. No... I'll just leave Austin alone." I sighed. "We'll just do the project. It's the right thing to do... I mean I'm dating Dallas. I shouldn't be cheating on him..."

I was feeling like Cassidy's words were right. Maybe Austin was using me to make her jealous. Trish and Dez always talked about the latest 'gossip' (I know right, Dez is into gossip, it's completely weird...) and before spring break, Cassidy and Austin were already heading down a rocky road. Some rich guy from France swooped Cassidy right off her feet, and she was having a fling with him right behind Austin's back. Even after that, he still didn't break up with her. What was wrong with him? Dez is Austin's best friend. There was no way that this could be false information. The only thing I knew about Austin was what I knew when we were fifteen years old. I didn't get to see him mature. I didn't get to see what he started to get into. What he started to hate. I just didn't know enough... If he did like me, then he would have broken up with Cassidy before chasing me around and sending me messages. I wasn't in a place to judge him though. I didn't break up with Dallas or even let Dallas know about what was going in my heart. Maybe Austin just had his own reasons.

"Ally!" The blonde haired boy showed up at the door.

"What do you want Austin?" Trish interjected, mustering a chance to slap him.

Austin backed away from Trish in confusion. "What's wrong with Trish?"

"Nothing." I squeaked. "She's just on her way to work. She has to act like that during her shifts... Isn't that right Trish?"

"Yeah." She mumbled, rolling her eyes. She knew that I needed her to stay out of it. Besides it's not like Austin knew about the threat. What was Cassidy supposed to tell him? 'Sweetie, I threatened your project partner, so you better not lay a hand on her.'-Cassidy wasn't that stupid. Even I knew that.

Austin and I watched Trish leave the store. When she did, he came to the counter and I could feel those brown eyes piercing into the side of my head.

"Are you avoiding me?" He finally asked. "If you're scared about Cassidy hating you more because of the whole director thing, I'll make sure she doesn't do anything to you..."

_Too late for that... She already did... _"That would be nice... but I was just busy with a few things." I gently placed a ukulele onto the counter before gathering the courage to look at him.

"Like what?"

"Trish was just mad about me not texting her over the weekend. She wanted me to make it up to her and that included texting no one and not talking to you..." Yeah, that would work. That was half the truth anyways. "You are the reason why I haven't texted her, so she wanted to get even..."

"Oh that makes sense." He nodded. To me, he seemed pretty convinced.

"Yeah..."

"So are you ready to answer my question?"

"What question?"

He leaned in closer. "...About the kiss... Did it mean anything to you?" His voice was low, so that no one in the store was able to hear.

"You came here to ask me that?" I blinked.

"It's just... It's been the only thing on my mind since it happened." His cheeks were rosy pink again.

Small moments like these were what made it hard for me to stay away from him. He was just so cute and no matter how many times I told myself to do the right thing, I would just end up doing the wrong one...

I shook my head, trying to erase the thought of his cuteness. "Is that all?"

"No..." He looked taken aback. "My mom is punishing you too."

"What? Why?"

"She says it's your fault for standing too close to the pool." He laughed. "She wants you to babysit with me tomorrow." It looked like he was enjoying this.

"Sure. Ally can help you babysit. It's a good skill for her to learn." My dad said while picking up the ukulele I just placed down. Sometimes I just wondered as to how my dad was able to sneak up on some of my conversations like that. He did that quite a lot when Trish and I were telling secrets to each other when we were younger.

"Dad-" I tried.

"No but's Ally. You did say that you wanted to gain more experience with kids once. This will be great. I will watch the store tomorrow... I have completed all my errands for the week, so it will be fine." He finished before heading back upstairs with the ukulele in his hand.

"I like your dad. He made that very easy." Austin laughed. I pushed his arm playfully and gave him a glare. "What? Now I know that there is someone who could break your stubbornness."

"Only with making me go places..." I muttered to myself. _How am I going to keep my distance away from Austin when my dad practically scheduled a day for me to spend time with him? _

"Then he can help me take you places anytime I want." He winked, leaning down on the counter.

"Haha." I rolled my eyes and hit him with the closest object I could find. "Stop being so cute, it's making it very hard for me to-" I stopped, realizing that I was saying my thoughts out loud. _Oh no Oh no Oh no. I hope Cassidy doesn't have surveillance on me twenty four hours a day..._

"You think I'm cute?" Austin asked. He was so taking advantage of this situation.

I flushed. This was embarrassing. "In this moment yes..." _Go away. Go away. Please go away. I need to stop talking to you._

He smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said walking towards the door. _Thank you. Thank you. You read my mind perfectly... _ "Bring lunch or some money..." He disappeared out the door and my breathing pattern returned to normal.

I was finding this so hard. One minute I would think of the safe route out of this situation-keep my distance away from Austin and just stay friends. The next minute, I want to be more than friends. My thoughts were all jumbled and always contradicting itself. I wanted someone I couldn't have.

_Buzzzzzz._

I shook my head once again before reaching into the pocket of my skirt to pull out my cell phone. It was probably Trish. She probably wanted to make sure that Austin was out of the store. That or ask about what he said.

I flipped my phone open and it wasn't her. It was him and my eyes opened wide at the message.

_Don't worry Ally. You don't need to be embarrassed. I think you're cute too3 _

Yep, he was making it way too hard for me to return things back to 'normal'. He even had to put in a heart... A stupid, stupid heart...

* * *

"1, 2,3,4,5..." Ms. Livingston was making sure for the third time in a row that we were all on the bus. There were only fourteen of us. How hard was it to count just fourteen people?

"I hope this project isn't due anytime soon." Trish said beside me. "It feels like we've been doing it forever."

"Trish." I replied. "It's only been a week, and we still have to get through organic chemistry." This week was going by so fast. I didn't even remember going to school yesterday. It just felt like a blur... But then again it was another regular boring day and that stupid threat was lingering my mind until this morning. The thought of getting to see Bunsen burners and life size dioramas of atoms and all that good stuff was the only thing keeping me calm.

"I don't think I need to know any of this in the future. I'm going to be an entrepreneur and this time I'll be the one getting to fire people..."

I laughed. "Those workers will be the reason as to why you're making money..."

"Hey Trish." Dallas called her from behind. "Can I sit with Ally?"

"Who are you sitting with?" Trish asked, not bothering to turn around.

"No one."

"No thank you, I don't want to sit alone."

The bus was now moving along onto the street.

"I'll sit with you." Dez offered. He was sitting diagonally from our seat.

"No thank you. I already sit with you in class."

"We can talk about the project now instead of doing it later."

"No thank you."

"I'll buy you lunch... I want to get this over with as much as you do."

"Okay." Trish was quick to agree. She turned back to me. "Bye Ally. Good luck."

Second later, Dallas was sitting beside me.

"Hey beautiful." He grinned and I gave him a slight nod. "How are you doing? I heard that you're the new director of the production."

"Yeah..." I sighed. _Great. You just had to bring it up._

"You don't seem very excited about it..."

"I don't think I can handle all the responsibility of putting on a show. I'm just a songwriter..." I looked out the window. Blurs of palm trees and street vendors were flashing by.

"Ally, I know you can do it." He was encouraging me. He always did when I wasn't sure about something. "You're smart and creative. You'll be fine."

"Maybe..." I looked down to my hands and started to fidget with my fingers. "I think Cassidy would do so much better..."

"Who cares about what Cassidy can do?" He reached his hand and grabbed mine, squeezing it for reassurance. "Think of it like an assignment given to you in art class. The people you work with are your project partners, the props as your materials, and the audience as your grade."

I smiled. "I guess when you put it like that... it sounds easier and less stressful... but still... the only reason I'm director is because of Cassidy stealing my scholarships..."

"I believe in you Ally..." He brushed his lips against my cheek. "You'll be fine... and don't worry about Cassidy. She's just insecure. She needs to realize that she can't have everything and this will do her good."

Dallas was so good at comforting me. How could I throw this all away? He was so sweet and understanding. He was always making sure that I was okay... I don't think Austin could replace that...

"Are you guys done being cheesy?" Trish reached her hand over the blue leather seat, poking my eye in the process.

"Oww." I rubbed my eye. "Trish!"

"What? I was asking you a question and you never replied!"

"What is it?" I stood up a little to look at her.

"See now I forgot..."

I laughed. That was so like Trish.

We were now standing outside of the exhibit waiting for Ms. Livingston to stop counting again. I wondered what it would be like to see her have kids. She'd be the most worried mother ever...

"Alright everyone!" She called out from the front of the crowd. "Will you all stand with your partners?"

"I'll see you later okay?" Dallas whispered into my ear and squeezed my hand once again.

"Okay."

He kissed my cheek and left to stand beside that witch.

Seconds later, Austin was standing beside me. "Hey Ally!" He looked happy as ever.

"Excited?" I asked. It looked like he couldn't wait to enter the building.

"Yeah!" He bent down a little and leaned closer to me. "...And I have to pee..."

I laughed out loud. "Good luck holding it in."

"Okay!" Ms. Livingston continued as soon as we were all with our partners. "Your assignment is very easy. Look around the exhibit for anything that has to deal with dynamic equilibrium. After lunch, all you guys have to do is write a report on how getting to know each other relates to dynamic equilibrium and list some examples using what you see in the exhibit to connect it all together..." She paused before continuing. "It's like an essay... The sheet explains it clearer, so don't worry. If you still don't know how to make connections, it will be fine. This project will not be due until next week. I haven't chosen the very date yet, but expect it to be after Tuesday... Okay?"

"Yes." We all said in unison.

"Okay! Now sign in here with your partner and I will give you guys a sheet of the assignment and some places that will be good for you to visit..." She was holding out a clipboard and a stack of sheets in her hands. "You can visit other parts of the exhibit, but make sure you thoroughly take a look at equilibrium! And remember to check in with me at twelve!"

"Yes..." We all said once again.

Austin and I started to walk forward in the line.

"Can we go to the washroom first?" He said while doing a little dance on the sidewalk.

"No." I teased. "I want to see everything. Your bathroom break may take away time."

"I'm not a girl. I'll be out of the washroom in less than a minute."

"Hopefully you wash your hands..."

"I'm disorganized. Not dirty." He retorted.

"If you say so..."

We were near the front of the line. I peeked over Jacob's shoulder to see Cassidy and Dallas heading into the building. So apparently it was okay for her arm with Dallas', but it wasn't okay for me to even talk to him in a comfortable way? Then again, I wasn't the one catching my boyfriend kissing another girl.

"Twinkle twinkle little star..." Austin was singing quietly to himself. "Please help me not pee my pants..."

I laughed. He was still dancing and even Jacob was eying him suspiciously. "Dude, stop being weird." He said before checking in with Ms. Livingston.

Shortly after, Ms. Livingston signed us in and I took a sheet out of her hand as Austin rushed into the building.

"So where do you want to go first?" Austin asked as he came to me from out of the washroom.

"Uhm... I guess we could go the one that deals with hypotonic and hypertonic solutions." I said as we walked up the stairs away from the foyer.

"Where is it?"

"Uhm... It should be right around the corner..." I said looking at a map. I never knew an exhibit needed so many things. I felt like I was going to pee my pants from excitement.

We turned again and we were in a large room with wall dividers which was used to separate the different experiments that were surrounding the area. There were a few other students from other schools that went to the same experiment as we did, but at least it wasn't too crowded. We were still able to see what was going on.

In front of three or four different tri-folds were eggs placed in two different solutions. One hypertonic and one hypotonic. We walked about with other people examining the changes during each stage as the instructor was describing to us what happened. I was fascinated even if this was more like a middle school assignment. Austin on the other hand kind of looked distracted, but that didn't stop me from looking at the eggs.

"Hey Ally?" He asked as I examined an egg placed in a hypertonic solution.

"Yeah?"

"Will you answer my question now?"

"What question?" I was so absorbed into learning about all the information. The instructor then started to talk about how this all related to equilibrium. I already knew what the answer was so I didn't really bother to listen to him.

"About the kiss..." Austin's voice was low.

I turned to face him. "You're very persistent with that question."

"I just want to know..." He mumbled. "You're very stubborn..."

I looked around him for any signs of Cassidy. I was in the same building as her. I didn't want to look like I was sharing secrets with him. She would throw a fit... And well I was way more interested in trying to get a look at each experiment before the end of the day.

"Tell you what..." I said looking up to meet his eyes. I didn't know where I was going with this, but it was coming out naturally. "Twenty questions..."

"What?" He blinked as he bit his lip. The word sexy was creeping into my mind again.

"That question is very personal Austin. I can't just answer it." I replied. "Besides I'm practically spending the whole day with you today... Let's play a game of twenty questions... Twenty personal questions." I made myself clear.

"So we both ask each other twenty questions?"

"Nineteen... The twentieth will be that one."

"You have to be completely honest and no being stubborn."He clasped his hands together.

"Fine..." I mumbled. Stubborn was me. You can't get rid of it. It's like asking me to not be me. "... You can't rush it though... or else I won't answer your question..."

"Okay. Deal."

"And pay attention to the experiments. We're partners. I'm not going to do all the scientific stuff."

"Okay. Okay. I'll try..."

We took an extra five minutes to take notes on how all of this related to equilibrium. After that we were roaming the empty spaces again- looking for another experiment or a diorama.

"When did you start liking me when we were younger?" He asked. I didn't know that he was going to start the game that fast...

"Uhm..."Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I didn't want to answer that even if it was in the past. Or maybe I should have just said that I could ask him questions. He was the one begging for me to answer that particular one. I should have thought about it before proposing a deal.

"No being stubborn Ally..."

I sighed. "I'm not sure... I'd say seven or eight months before the whole camp incident. Although, three months was me in denial and not accepting it. The next three was me thinking it was just a phase and that it would go away if I just ignored it, and after that I guess I just grew to like it..."

I glanced up to look at him and he had that stupid perfect smile plastered on his face. "So almost a year huh?"

"It's weird. It didn't feel like that back then. It only felt like a month." Ironic isn't it? You have a crush on someone and when you look back to reflect on it, you never really noticed as to how long you really liked that person. "Why do you like Cassidy? ... I mean what gets you to stay with her?" It felt good to have the attention snap to him instead of me.

"Are you jealous?" I slapped his arm with a pamphlet. "I'm kidding." He said when he found the serious expression on my face. "She wasn't that cold-hearted before... I liked her because she shared the same thing as me. The feeling we both have when we perform on stage or when we hear that we get to perform somewhere. Her passion for music. It was... I just liked it and I guess that made me want to get to know her." He took a deep breath and I could tell that he knew that I wanted to know about the cold-hearted part. "Cassidy had a lot of family issues and people always used her for her money... She was the syrup to my pancake... And well, she's not that bad once you get to know her."

"Three years ago, I kind of did. You liked her a lot. I wanted to get to know her for your sake, but it was like I couldn't even get in a talking distance with her."

"It's never too late to get to know someone."

"You're kidding right?" I stopped, taking another pamphlet from a table. "It's hard trying to get along with someone who hates you."

"Yeah Ally. I know." I knew he was talking about me. I avoided him like crazy.

"I'm okay with you now, aren't I?" I defended myself.

"That's why it's never too late for you to get to know her."

We walked from place to place gathering information for assignments while asking each other questions. I guess we both felt weird after the first question. After that the next four was just about family and friends. Nothing I was particularly interested in anyways. I wanted to know more about his relationship with Cassidy, but I didn't want to make myself seem like I was obsessed with it.

Time was passing by incredulously fast. Before we knew it, it was lunch time. Due to my punctuality skills, we were at the meeting spot before anyone else and Ms. Livingston checked us in. We then were once again free to roam around the place as we wished.

"Austin!" The queen came and I backed away to keep my distance from him. "Let's go."

"Coming..." He called out. "I guess we'll complete this game later?"

"Yeah... Sure..." I managed to give him a lopsided smile.

* * *

"Ally, c'mon..." Austin was holding out the door that led to the outside of the back of the building.

We didn't do much after lunch. I guess my every need to look at everything was in the way of our actual talking or communicating. On the bright side, we finished half the assignment... Well we got the whole example part down. We just needed to connect it now.

"I am not going to skip..." I hissed. "Have you seen Ms. Livingston? She counts every last person on the bus like fifty times."

"She won't notice." He was using his head to gesture me outside.

"She knows the difference between twelve and fourteen Austin!" I scowled. _There is absolutely no way that I'm skipping. _

"Stop being a party pooper! Besides, everyone does it." He grinned.

I guess that would have to explain the art field trip to the museum. Half the class was gone in the end. It was all of Austin's buddies too. "That's different though. Mrs. Bloomsbury doesn't care... Ms Livingston does!"

He pouted. "Stop being a party pooper Ally! I dare you too! You're a senior and it's the end of the school year. Break one of the rules!"

Austin Moon. He was always a risk taker... "No."

"Too bad, I'm making you."

"You can't make me! I'll report you to the authorities!"

"And tell them what? I made you have fun?" He laughed before he jabbed a stake that was on the cement into the bottom of the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He looked persistent. He had that same expression of superiority before he pushed me into the pool.

I was stupid enough to back myself up into a corner. If he wasn't so strong, I would have been able to take myself away from his grasp but I couldn't. Maybe I should have started to work out just like him. Not create huge arms, but enough for me to push him away. He dragged me a few metres away from the building and stopped. He was still holding onto me and I think I started to feel every muscle contracting in his body. His steady breathing and the beat of his heart... It was at the same pace as mine. Fast... Skipping a few beats...

He lifted one of his arms from my waist to point across a beach. "My house is just past that beach. If we go back to school, it will take another hour for us to reach it."

"I'm okay with that." I murmured. I would have struggled my way free from his other arm, but I was too busy matching his heartbeat with mine.

"Nah. I didn't drive to school today so it would take extra longer. Let's just leave now."

"We should be on the bus now. She's probably freaking out..."

"Nah." He turned me to face the other way and pointed straight ahead at what looked like Jacob and Jake getting into a silver Ferrari.

"Ten! That makes ten! She's going to be pissed."

"Or eight..." Austin pointed at the exit where their partners were running to the car. "So it's no big deal..."

"Fine." I couldn't believe I was giving up. "But if I get into trouble, I'm going to ignore you for the rest of the school year."

He laughed. "Okay then..." He loosened his grip on me before letting me go. He then grabbed my wrist and we started running. Running onto the beach as the sand found a way to get onto the soles of my flats.

We stopped to catch our breath and started to walk instead.

"Fourteen questions left." Austin said.

"Yeah..." I reached down to take off my flats, shaking out all the sand that got into it before walking again. "What do you hate about me?"

"There's nothing to hate Ally. You're awesome."

"Yeah... but what bothers you about me?"

"Your stubbornness and the fact that you have a boyfriend."

_My having a boyfriend bothers him? ..._ I felt my cheeks blazing red and I turned away to look in the opposite direction. "How can that bother you, you're taken too."

"I know..." Before I could even ask more about it, he asked me the same question. "What bothers you about me?"

"The fact that you dragged me out of the bus back to school..." I murmured. _And how you are so vague with your answers. What does 'I know' even mean. Couldn't you have explained that more instead of asking me the next question?_

"Sorry." He didn't look very apologetic though. "I just don't want you regretting anything after high school... You can have fun all the fun you want right now... To a certain extent of course, and you don't get into that much trouble. After this, we're supposed to be more responsible and I want to hold on to my childhood a little bit longer..."

"Depending on what you do, you won't get into much trouble..." I scowled.

"Yeah... And this isn't expulsion material, so we'll be fine."

"What do you like about me?" I asked. I guess I would be fine with skipping school just once. The bell technically rung while we were here, so in a way I guess it's not skipping...

"Everything."

"That's very vague. Be more specific."

"How about I write a song about it?"

"So you write your own songs now?"

"I've tried... You weren't there to write any for me anymore remember?"

I pursued my lips. "Yes, I know. You don't need to remind me anymore..."

"Just stating the facts..." He chuckled.

"In my opinion, I'm still the one that would be writing the songs in this relationship."

"What is our relationship?" He asked, and I turned to face him. We both stopped to look at each other. That now familiar serious expression was on his face.

"We're friends are we not?" I blinked in confusion. _ At least it appeared to be like that. Do friends kiss each other? Maybe in France, but here no. Would that make us more than friends? Does he even like me? UGHHHH. _

"What do you think we are?"

"...Project partners who rekindled their friendship."

"And in your head?"

"All these questions are making me lose count..." I said looking down as soon as his eyes met mine. "What is our relationship to you in your head?"

"I'm not sure..."

_Did he spend a lot of time thinking about this as much as I did? _It was starting to seem that way. "Then that makes me unsure too..."

He leaned in closer and I think he was going to kiss me again. AGAIN. WHY?! I wanted it, but I couldn't. It was unsafe and I had a boyfriend and he himself had a girlfriend. What made him want to always lean into me like that?!

Just then pebbles of water were shooting down from the sky. In seconds, more came crashing down and I could feel the coldness creeping through the fabric of my clothing.

Austin backed away and looked up to realize that it was now raining. "It's raining..." He said.

"You think?" I rolled my eyes.

He grabbed my hand and we ran through what was left of the beach. We were then on a sidewalk, sand between my toes as we continued running our way to Austin's house.

It took at least a good ten minutes to make it to his house, and it made me realize how horrible my stamina was. It didn't take him long to catch his breath and it felt like it took me ages.

"Ally Dawson!" His mother said after opening the door and greeting me with the same hug as the last time I was here. "Did Austin push you into a pool again?" She asked as we made our way into the living room.

"Mom!" Austin scowled. "It's raining out there!"

"I'm just teasing you hun." She smiled sweetly at her son. "Go get Ally's old clothes. I guess it's a good thing that you've been forgetting to give it to her this whole week."

I laughed. "I've been forgetting to give back his clothes too..."But the truth was, I wanted to keep them for myself.

Austin disappeared out of the room for a few moments before returning back with my old clothes. At least I didn't have to wear someone else's underwear and be braless this time.

"I'd love to stay and talk more, but I have to get to work." Austin's mom said before turning back to look at Austin. "You go change too... and your sisters are in the kitchen playing with playdo. I promised that I'd get them cookies today, but I decided that you could bake some for them."

"Okay mom..." He scowled. "I'm not much of a baker though. It's not my fault if it doesn't turn out very good..."

"Then I'll just make you babysit them again next week."

"Mom!"

"I'll be going now." She said, taking her keys from the coffee table. "Make sure that they take a nap after their dinner. I put it in the fridge. Just reheat it."

"Okay mom." Austin seemed annoyed.

"Okay. Bye." She opened the door, and rain was pelting its way onto the hard wood floor. "And you better not hurt Ally!" With that she slammed the door shut.

"I like your mom." I laughed. "She makes sure that you don't do anything to me. She's like my bodyguard while you're the rapist."

He scowled. "Hey. That's not very nice."

"I'm kidding..." I couldn't stop laughing.

"Austwin!" A child's voice came from the kitchen. "Bwake us cwookies!"

"Ya! Bwake us cwookies!"

"I guess we have a long day ahead of us." Austin sighed before walking into the kitchen. I quickly made my way up to the washroom to change into my new pair of dry clothes. I then went back downstairs and into the kitchen and saw both of his little sisters –Mary and Elizabeth standing up on two chairs while making a playdo world. They were adorable. I couldn't tell them apart, but Austin said that Mary was always the one in pigtails and Elizabeth was always the one with French braids. They both had the same color hair as Austin, maybe a bit lighter and their eyes were a hazelnut color. They kind of reminded me of James' eyes, but theirs held innocence while James' held corruption. Austin was changed too and I really had no idea as to where he changed or got the clothes from. But then again he was a guy. He didn't have to make sure that his waist belt was holding everything together.

"Awwy!" They both exclaimed at the same time. "Pway wit us while Austwin bwakes cwookies!"

"Sure!" I took a seat across from them on the table, staring at them knead red and purple playdo. "What are you guys making?"

"A pizza!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Fo ywou!"

"I'll be happy to eat it..." I smiled at both of them.

"So I have to make the cookies alone?" Austin whined.

"Be a man!" I laughed. "It will do you good. See what it's like to be in your mom's shoes."

We never really talked or anything for the next few hours. The twins were always making him do something and kicking him out of the room. Even during dinner, they made him eat at the counter instead of with us. It was cute hearing that they wanted me all to themselves. At least their feelings towards me weren't vague or anything at all. I couldn't help but laugh the whole way though. Kids were just so entertaining sometimes. They weren't introduced into the world of controversies and confusion. They were still optimistic and learning. I wish I could be at that age again...

"... Lullaby, goodnight..." Austin sang as he tucked both of them into their beds.

I smiled as I watched him take care of them. He was always a nice guy... Even to his sisters.

"What do you want to do?" He whispered as he closed the door behind him- a baby monitor in his hand.

"Let's start the representation of our project!" I smiled again from ear to ear.

"Seriously? We can do anything and you want to start the project?"

"Yes... Do you have poster paper? And construction paper? And glue... And all that good stuff."

"You're a strange girl Ally Dawson... A girl who chooses homework over well anything is just weird..."

"Better than procrastinating."

He took my hand again and led me to the other side of the house. I found it weird how he had to take my hand in his own house. I understand outside where I don't know where we are going, but in his own house? That was just weird... In the back of my head though, I felt satisfaction. It made me think that he just wanted to hold my hand...

We stopped at another door and he opened it before switching the light on. My mouth dropped in awe as I stared at a wall filled with poster paper of every color hanging neatly beside each other. There was a cabinet with labels for different supplies beside the posters, and construction paper hanging from the other side. There was even a part of the wall dedicated to different kinds of scissors. Opposite from all that, there was a computer and one of those huge printers you see the teachers use in school. In the middle was a huge table that I loved as soon as I saw it. It was big enough for me to do three different projects at once! Last but not least, opposite from the doorway was a windowsill, a cushion beneath the window and I was guessing that I could be able to sit there when I wanted to take a break. Too bad it was still raining... Rain usually lasted for fifteen minutes, but this one was lasting forever... It was just a small shower when we got here, but over time it got worse.

"I'm guessing this is your favorite room now?" He asked, smiling at me.

"You bet!" I grinned, and started to take as many posters as I can. "What color would you like?"

"You can choose." He sat up on the table and watched me. "So I'm guessing we have around ten questions left? More or less..."

"Uhm... yeah..." I was focused on finding glue and scissors.

"Ally?" He asked as I sat down on a stool, already having a layout planned out in my head.

"Mmhmm?"

"What are your thoughts on Cassidy?"

"I'm not very fond of her..." I paused as I cut out a piece of blue construction paper. "You know that."

"Yeah, but why?" He stood up and walked to the windowsill, deciding to sit there instead.

"You know... She threatened me once..." I said. It must have been the excitement of the room... I just all of a sudden felt like telling the truth.

"Really?" I could feel his dark brown eyes staring at me.

"Yeah... Because of the whole director thing. And well... She caught us kissing."

"Oh." Austin said. Of course that was the only thing he could say. It's not like he was one for explaining himself.

"...What do you think of Dallas?"

"He's lucky."

"Why?" I started to glue things onto the white poster board.

"Because he has you."

I stopped doing what I was pleased to do. "That confuses me you know..."

"How?" It was like he was clueless about the whole 'girls analyze everything' concept.

"I mean, you answer my questions so vaguely and I don't understand what you're trying to say. I just told you that Cassidy caught us kissing and all you could say was 'oh.'"

"Because I don't know what to say..." He shrugged. "I don't know if I should feel angry or happy."

"You should be feeling like a jerk!" I stood up from the stool to sit beside him on the windowsill. Luckily it wasn't one of those small ones. I was at least a foot or two away from him.

"Yeah... Maybe... I'm just not good with emotions. I just do what I want to do. I do try to consider the people around me, but it's hard."

"Yeah... I get what you mean." I murmured staring at the distorted image of outside. There were hundreds of raindrops hitting the window and sliding down its exterior.

"Would you say that Dallas is your first love?" He asked, and I didn't bother to look at him. I all of a sudden wanted to be a raindrop.

"No..." I mumbled.

"Then who was? You loved another boy before him? So Dallas isn't your first boyfriend?" It sounded like Austin was in panic mode. I wasn't sure. I was just tired.

"I was in love with you Austin..." I closed my eyes and rested my head against the window. The coldness was seeping into my scalp. Thinking about it, I wasn't sure. But saying it out loud, I was. I was in love with him... and probably still am.

"You were my first too..."

I opened my eyes to look at him. He was staring at the raindrops. "How?"

"I did like Cassidy. I did... but then that camp came and I don't know. I just started to have feelings for you... But then I was confused... You know denial."

I felt weird now. I didn't know if it was satisfaction or fear or anything... it was just weird. I watched Austin come closer to me until his leg was touching mine. He placed his hand on my cheek, the very same way he did when we were at the pool. It wasn't cold and wet though. It felt warm and reassuring...

He leaned in closer and our noses were touching. I could barely breathe being this close to him.

"Ally... I think my feelings never went away for you... and that kiss made me realize that I wanted you... not Cassidy."

His other hand crept its way to the other side of my face. I reached out, placing my hand onto his wrist, the other one resting on the cushion. This time I leaned in and we were kissing again. The second kiss.

He stopped after a few seconds and I gasped because I knew I wanted more. I wanted it. I wanted him...

"Do you feel the same way?" He asked. Those brown eyes staring deeply into mine.

I nodded shyly and he gave me a small smile. After that, we were kissing again and this time who knows for how long...

* * *

**(A/N): Just for you guys, I stayed up to finish the chapter. lool. I am so tired. Imma sleep now. It's close to 7000 words. :D I hope that makes up for the lack of updates. I'll be leaving Monday night or well Tuesday morning. I'll try to get another chapter in by then but after that it's ten days of nothing. Unless I can get my hands on some internet. I don't know if my uncle has internet. lolol. **

**I hope you guys enjoy and thank you for all the reviews once again.! :DD**


	10. Trapped

**Chapter 9**

I stood outside the boys' locker room, waiting for Dallas to walk out of those doors and give me his signature kiss. It was a part of our daily routine when he had practice for football or basketball or any other sport he was a part of. I loved that daily kiss and waiting for it while smelling foul odour and listening to obnoxious jocks couldn't stop me from having a good day. Today was different though... A little too different and everything around me was making me anxious. Today was a day to cease that signature kiss...

_~Flashback~_

_Two days ago..._

_I was kissing him. He was kissing me. Every nerve in my body was receiving a sensation I felt like I've been longing for, for years. All that hate I had towards Austin was just gone... instantaneously gone. Our lips were moving in the right motions. It felt like his lips were perfect for mine. The way his lips felt... It was the perfect moisture and absolutely breathtaking. _

"_Ally..." He moaned quietly as I let my hand glide down to a more comfortable position. _

_And then out of nowhere it hit me... Dallas... Dallas. Dallas. Dallas._

_I pulled myself away from Austin's grasp and he stared at me startled. He was just getting into it too, and I had to stop him... _

"_Was that too much?" He asked, embarrassed as he rubbed his neck. _

_He was so adorable making sure that he wasn't going to far... It was making me wonder if he and Cassidy went all the way... Why couldn't I ask more juicy questions like this? _

"_Austin, we're both taken. We shouldn't be doing this. It's wrong." I shook my head in disappointment. I can't be asking about his virginity out of nowhere. There were more important things to talk about. "I'm not that kind of girl... And I'm sure you're not that kind of guy either." _

"_I'm not..." He shrugged as he met my eyes. "I just can't help the way I feel..." _

"_But you have too." I whispered. _

_The rain was starting to cease into a small drizzle and there was a long silence stretching between us. Maybe I shouldn't have stopped the kiss. It felt insanely good and even if I felt so guilty about 'cheating' on Dallas, I still wanted to kiss Austin._

"_I'll break up with Cassidy." Austin blurted out._

"_Austi-" I tried, but he interrupted. He couldn't be making such an abrupt decision out of nowhere. My dad always told me that it was bad to make decisions when you're overwhelmed with emotions. _

"_If I really liked her, I wouldn't be chasing after you." He pursed his lips together. "We were bound to be over with or without you in my life." _

"_... then that would mean that I have to break up with Dallas." I mumbled. I wanted Austin, but the thought of breaking up with Dallas was a bit heartbreaking too..._

"_It's a suggestion Ally... I'm not going to force you to..." He stretched his arms out in front of his chest as if to defend himself. _

_I hesitated before speaking. "No you're right... If I really liked him I wouldn't be kissing you..." _

"_So tomorrow?" Hope was filling his eyes. _

"_Tomorrow? That's so soon!" _

"_Like a band aid Ally." He smiled and placed his hand on my cheek once more. _

"_What if I can't do it tomorrow?" I asked, leaning into his hand for comfort. _

"_Then Friday. And that's final." He was serious again. "I know you're stubborn Ally and you don't want to hurt his feelings, but it's better now than later..."_

"_What about the people around us? They're going to start talking and-"_

_Austin stopped me by tracing around my lips with his thumb. "One problem at a time." He then gave me a smile for reassurance._

_~End Flashback~_

Today I will do it. Today I will do it...

I kept chanting those four words in my mind for motivation. After hours of thinking about it I have come to a conclusion that I did want Austin... Dallas was a total sweetheart, but I just didn't feel for him that way anymore. I had to do it... Sooner or later. It's not like I responded to his 'I love you' and it's not like I was in love with him. This was the right thing to do...

"Ally!" Dallas called out as soon as he spotted me. "What are you doing here?"

I blinked in surprise. "I always wait for you when you're done practice..."

"Oh right..." He shook his head. "Can we talk in private?"

"Sure." I gave him a smile. "I do need to talk to you..."

He took my wrist and led me around the corridor and outside into an empty secluded space in the courtyard. There was no signature kiss. As much as I didn't want to receive it right now, it felt weird. He always did it. ALWAYS.

"You want to go first?" He asked.

"No... You can." I squeaked. This was it... In a few minutes we'd be done.

He looked like he hasn't slept in ages. Like he was keeping a secret. Like there was something bothering him. It had to be big... Maybe he was stressed about an upcoming game and he needed my support. Maybe he-

"Ally... I'm breaking up with you." He said while holding in his breath. As soon as he finished the last word he gasped for air and then pursed his lips together in a straight line.

"What?" I blinked in surprise. _Did he just break up with me? THOSE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MY WORDS. _"Why? What did I do?"

"Nothing..." He looked tormented and hurt. "I just think it's better for us to stay friends..."

"WHY? A FEW DAYS AGO YOU SAID YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH ME!"

"I know... I am in love with you..."

"THEN THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE..." I shouldn't be the one yelling considering the fact that I was going to break up with him, but this didn't make any sense... HE JUST SAID HE LOVED ME.

"Ally... I don't want to talk about it." He mumbled.

"Why not?" I scoffed.

"Aren't you happy?" He asked in frustration. "I see it in your eyes that you want to be with Austin... Isn't this what you want?"

"But I-" He was right. That was what I wanted...

"Look Ally." He titled my chin up to stare into my eyes. "I'm not mad... I knew you always had feelings for him...its fine... really."

"That doesn't make any sense..." I mumbled. "You said you loved me."

"I know. I-" He sighed. "I have to go... I have an urge to kiss you, but I can't..." He let go of me and attempted to give me a smile. It wasn't convincing at all though. He looked so hurt and just frustrated.

"Dalla-"

"It's fine. I'll see you around."

Just like that, he was gone.

* * *

"So did you do it?" Austin asked as I placed a few props onto the table.

"Use this for the prom scene..." I said to Cassandra, one of the people on backdrops and costumes.

"Wow... This is perfect. Cassidy would have never thought of using something glitzy like this."

I shrugged. Everyone was always praising me for tweaking a few things with the play. Apparently my random suggestions were great. I wasn't really trying my best though... All this drama was distracting me.

"Ally..." Austin said as he followed me around the stage.

"Are you done with the next song?" I asked James who was busy on the piano.

"Almost... Just give me fifteen minutes." He said.

No one could deny it. Neither could I. I mean James was good looking and he looked even better when he wasn't walking around trying to hit on every new girl he saw. It was nice knowing that he was actually willing to work when we only had a few more weeks until the actual show.

"Ally..." Austin hissed and grabbed my wrist to make me stop. At least everyone was busy with their work to even notice.

"What?" I hissed back as I turned to look at him.

"Did you do it?"

"No."

"Why not?" He frowned.

"Because he did." I shrugged, pulling my wrist away from his grasp.

"What?" He blinked in confusion.

I scoffed. "Yeah... He beat me to it. It doesn't make any sense..."

"But it's a good thing isn't it? We can finally be together..."

"Yeah." I mumbled. "But I still don't understand why he beat me to it... A few days ago he said he was in love with me. Unless Cassidy pushed him too... or she showed him that video..."

"No." Austin said. "I know Cassidy. I made her delete it too..."

"But that doesn't even make sense Austin. I know I should be happy, but I can't. I need to know why he did."

"Why?"

"Because it doesn't make sense!" I practically screamed.

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Austin had this weird suggestion..." I cleared my throat as I looked about the room. "Carry on..."

"I think if you were a teacher, you'd be like Ms. Livingston." Austin joked as everyone went back to work.

"You better get back to work too..." I said and he was quick to obey.

* * *

"I bet you that Cassidy had something to do with it." Trish sneered. "She probably couldn't handle the fact that Austin dumped her, so she needed to get even by getting Dallas to dump you! She probably blackmailed him to do so!"

"That makes sense Trish, but we have no proof..." I mumbled as we emerged from the doors. "Innocent till proven guilty remember?"

"Bitch was never innocent to begin with!" Trish was on a roll. Anything about Cassidy could get her riled up and started.

"Shoot." I said as I realized that I left my bag back in the theater. "I have to get my bag. I'll be right back."

"The bus is coming!" Trish pointed ahead at the bus at the stop light.

Rehearsals went on for about four to five hours – for the people putting it together anyways. Me and the four other stage directors. Austin wanted to wait for me, but I just wanted him to go home. Besides, I needed time to talk to Trish too and she was actually willing to sit there for hours waiting for me. I felt bad, making her wait for nothing...

"I'll catch the next one..." I said running back into the building.

"You better call me then!"

"Yeah Yeah..."

I ran through the halls and back into the theatre. It didn't take long for me to spot my bag. It was sitting on top of one of the prop tables –right where I dropped it off.

"What are you still doing here?" The queen popped out of nowhere as soon as I grabbed my bag.

I took at her, startled. I shouldn't be intimidated. I shouldn't be intimidated. I SHOULD'NT BE INTIMIDATED!

"I can ask you the same thing..." I said, looking her straight in the eye. "Only I and the producers were supposed to stay until eight."

"You may have stolen my spot as director, but not everyone thinks you're fit for the part." She scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I didn't steal it." I mumbled. "It was just given to me..."

"Oh, like how Austin was given to you..." Her friend Taylor came from out of nowhere.

Great. So now someone from her clique was hanging around here too... "Then thank you for the gift Cassidy." I rolled my eyes. "You should be getting home... If there's anything wrong with the props or script, you can complain about it tomorrow."

"Whatever." Cassidy retorted. "We were about to leave anyways." She grabbed her Chanel purse from the table and headed towards the door. "C'mon Taylor. Kirsten is waiting for us outside anyways..."

I followed behind them, making sure that they weren't going to try and do something to sabotage the show. Maybe it was Cassidy who got Dallas to break up with me. When Cassidy was director, she couldn't wait to go home. In fact she was usually the first one out. Now she was caught being here in the theatre after hours with her friend who wasn't even a part of the show. Taylor's grades weren't good enough for her to become a performer...

"It's not opening." Taylor said as she pulled on the doorknob.

"Let me try." Cassidy pushed her to the side and pulled on the metal handle. "It's locked."

"What?" I shoved past both of them and did the exact same thing. "It's locked..."

"I just said that." She rolled her eyes as I pulled harder on the handle.

It never made sense to me why our school needed locks to lock people in. What did they want to do? Hold people hostage? ... Okay well, that was exactly what they wanted to do in case a burglar tried to sneak into the school after hours anyway... He or she would have nowhere to go and it would be easy for our school to catch them...

"I need to get home!" I panicked as I pulled on the metal handle with anger and frustration.

"We all do..." Cassidy mumbled with attitude. "I'll just call Kirsten to come in and get us."

Cassidy reached into her purse and took out her phone.

Minutes later, Kirsten was in the building, holding the door open to us.

"What took you so long?" Cassidy demanded. "You were making me stand next to her for the longest time ever." Her as in me. She practically just admitted that she wasn't very fond of me.

"I couldn't just come in here alone. The doors to the outside will lock me in if I don't have something holding the doors open." She said. "You think I'm stupid or something?"

Ugh. I was sharing the same air as the three plastics of our school. The queen bee and her bleach blonde minions.

"Let's just go." Cassidy complained as she was about to head out the theater doors.

"What's taking so long? You made me miss my bus!" I heard Trish's voice sound from out in the hallway. She was soon enough standing beside Kirsten at the doorway.

"I told you to keep the doors open!" Kirsten shouted.

"I did, but I got bored." Trish said and then turned to look at me. "Turns out that was the wrong bus. The one behind it was the right one, but blondie over here had to make me miss it!"

"Yeah Kirsten I think you're stupid!" Cassidy raised her voice. "You made someone like her hold the door for us! Why couldn't you just get a rock or something? You know all the doors lock in after eight fifteen!"

"I didn't know that this chick would be dumb enough to do such a thing!"

"Excuse me! Standing right here!" Trish retorted.

I stood there a midst the arguing and insults before deciding to speak. "GUYS!" I yelled out. "Let's just call someone else."

"In case you haven't noticed dorkson, they turn off the cell phone reception a few minutes after." Cassidy rolled her eyes. "You're in student council, how can you not know that?"

Ugh. Our school was so stupid. Who would ever create a thing to turn off reception in a school? Who would do that at all? ... But of course, it was a part of the whole 'catching-a-burglar' plan. At least no one was able to steal our school mascot anymore...l

"So then I guess that means we are stuck here for the night." Taylor finally spoke up. "Sleepover!"

We all turned to Taylor, giving her a dirty look.

"Three nights to be exact..." I mumbled. It was Friday. This was the first time ever where most of us didn't want today to be a Friday...

I did not want to spend three nights with a group of girls I didn't like. I was starting to feel like we were a group of teens being stranded on a deserted island. This was going to be the longest three nights ever... Hopefully someone will find us before then...

* * *

**(A/N): Short I know, but I'm still on vacation. I just wanted you guys to know that I'm still writing it. lolol I didn't want to make you guys wait half a month. There could be a lot of spelling errors. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now. Going to seaworld tomorrow! Enjoy the chapter! :DD I'll try to add the next part as soon as I can. :) And thank you for the reviews again!**


	11. Truths

**(A/N): It seems that I'm getting my very first hate mail towards this story and I just wanted to point something out.**

**To 'Austin luver/lover': It's called fanfiction for a reason, so most of it isn't real. It's just made up stories and ideas. And well... If "u were in high skool', you'd know how to spell "You" and "School". You shouldn't be judging my spelling when I'd say that mine is better than yours... If you don't like the story, then don't read it. You don't need to comment on every chapter, pointing out what's not real from the show and calling me a 'mental retard'. That's really rude... **

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait you guys, I just started uni and well, I'm sort of busy trying to find my way across town and finding my way around the school. I've also started my personal training at the gym. I'm just trying out new things this new year and hopefully I get use to it. It's really different compared to before. **

**I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! I kind of rushed, but I promised that I would get an update today. I was reading the last few paragraphs and there was so many grammar mistakes. LOL. I'm just really tired. . **

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"Gee, I really wonder whose idea it was to turn this school into a prison after school hours!" Cassidy remarked.

Okay it was my idea to suggest such a thing, but it was Principal Mallone's agreement that got it to turn out this way. For some reason, people like breaking into our school... All we had was school supplies and textbooks. Did people really want that nowadays? I mean I could get why people would want to steal Henry the Crab, our mascot for a game, but that prank only happened like once a year...

"Remember when someone stole your jewellery collection from the cosmetology room?" Trish butted into the conversation. "Yeah, it happened after hours..." It was really nice having Trish here with me.

"I don't care. I don't want to be stuck here for three days. Let's just find a way out..." Cassidy retorted as she exited the theatre. Her minions were quick to follow behind her.

Just then, the lights turned off too.

"Turning off all the lights is a part of this whole prison thing isn't it?" Cassidy was getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Yeah..." I mumbled.

"Then you're lucky that we have all these huge ass windows..."

Trish and I followed after the queen out of the now pitch black theatre and into the hallways that were being lighted by natures moon.

"Can we at least get out from one of these windows?" Cassidy asked.

I took a step forward, staring outside at the moon hiding behind a few leaves of a nearby tree. "Sure... if you want to get into trouble...that and if you can even break one of these..."

"So I guess you never devised a plan to get an innocent student out of this school when it's become a prison..."

I haven't really thought of that. I didn't think anyone would be at school for this long. Principal Mallone and Janitor Jenkins probably, but certainly not on a Friday. And even if they were stuck, they both had the remotes and keys to get themselves out of this mess.

"Can we not worry about breaking out right now...?" Kirsten said as she rubbed her stomach. "I think food should be our top priority. I'm so hungry..."

"Same here..." Taylor said as their growling stomachs filled the silent air.

"They're right. We wouldn't be able to find a proper way out on an empty stomach." I said looking straight into the queen's eyes. _Don't be intimidated Ally. Don't be intimidated..._

"You're student body president... Wouldn't you know a way out just like that?" Cassidy retorted once more.

Once again, Trish came to the rescue. "Yeah, she's a president, NOT some kind of construction worker."

"The cafeteria is left open. I'm sure we'll find some food there..." I said as calm as I could.

A few minutes later, we were in the cafeteria and making our way to the swinging doors that would guide us to the kitchen. Kirsten and Taylor were waving their phones in the air just in case they would get at least one bar of signal to appear on their phones... There was no luck though.

"So they keep the kitchen open, but not any other door?" Taylor asked. "That's a bit weird..."

"Yeah..." I murmured. "It's so no one really starves if they do get stuck. I mean... they want to catch the culprit. Not starve him to death."

"Great... Maybe there's tools in the kitchen that we could use to help us bust out of this place." Cassidy said, rolling her eyes.

Sooner or later, we were all sitting on the floor eating chips and canned fruits and vegetables in the teacher's lounge. Thank God that door was left open too. They had the most comfy seats and carpeted floor in that room. Chips and canned food was not a dinner I had in mind, but it was better than nothing. At least no was complaining- or well maybe I should say the queen stopped complaining. It was amazing to see that her friends weren't as bad as her. I thought that they would all be divas like her, but they were actually pretty cool. Maybe I didn't see any of their diva sides yet, but right now I was grateful for having them at least trying to cooperate with me and Trish in this situation.

"I'm bored." Kirsten burped as she slouched further down onto the floor. "Let's play a game."

"Truth or dare?" Taylor smirked beside her.

"I'm in." I watched Kirsten give in as they both high fived each other. "You in?" Kirsten turned to look at Cassidy.

"With those dorks? I don't think they have anything juicy to offer." Cassidy scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't know... I'm pretty sure Ally does." Kirsten turned to look at me, giving me a wink. "Don't you Ally?"

I knew she was talking about the whole Austin and Dallas situation. Her and Cassidy were close, Kirsten obviously knew about Austin breaking up with her. She was probably suspecting that it could be because of me... I wonder if they knew about Dallas breaking up with me early this afternoon. Just thinking about it was making me mad.

"I'm in." Trish said, eating a chip. "It's not like I have anything interesting to say."

"We'll see about that." Kirsten smirked before turning back to look at the agonizing queen and me. "So you guys in or not? It would be more fun with two other people."

"Especially when they are caught in the same drama... You know, we can hear both sides of the story." Taylor offered.

"Sounds more like truth than dare to me..." Cassidy murmured under her breath.

"If you guys don't join, you'd have to sit outside. It's not fair for you to hear what's going on between us three when you're not even playing." Trish offered and I gave her a look. Was she really taking these girls' side? Half an hour ago she was ready to punch one of them.

"Fine I'll join." Cassidy said as she made herself more comfortable on the floor we set up with the emergency pillows and blankets that were stacked up in a cabinet.

"Ally?" Kirsten sounded with hope. "I honestly think that Austin will come to the rescue anyways, we just have to do something before he arrives..."

"What makes you think Austin will save us?" Cassidy flared.

"Because he's in love with Ally. He'll be worried and he'll come to the rescue!" Taylor replied as she plopped down on her stomach.

Cassidy was ready to throw a tantrum, but Kirsten interrupted her. "So... You in or what?"

"...Sure." I hesitated. "If your prediction of Austin coming to save us is correct then you will have to do me a favor."

"Wow Ally... I never knew you had a side in you to make bets." Kirsten was shocked. "I'll agree to the bet, but if you lose you'll have to owe me a favor."

"Sure..." I really had no clue as to what I was doing. That was happening a lot lately... My words were coming up like word vomit...

"You have to be a hundred percent honest though and whatever is said in this room does not leave this room." Kirsten was serious now.

"If it does then we get to punish the person or persons who said anything..." Taylor finished off. "Okay?"

"Yeah." Trish smirked.

"Okay, so Ally..." Kirsten started. "You get to go first since you're the most innocent in this group..."

"What makes you think I'm the most innocent...?" I retorted.

"Okay you get to go first because you're the goody two shoes." Kirsten rolled her eyes. "Did Austin really break up with Cassidy to get with you?"

"What happened to dare?" I started to fidget with a lock of my hair.

"... Fine. I dare you to answer that question."

I stared at Cassidy who was staring at me like she was ready to kill me. At least we weren't in the kitchen anymore with all those knives... I swear she would actually kill me if she did.

"Uhm... No..." I squeaked before clearing my throat. They obviously weren't buying it... "Austin said it would be over between then anyways even if I wasn't in his life..."

"I knew it..." Taylor said. _She knew it? Knew what? They were going to be over? Was Taylor close to Austin too?_ "What's the story?"

"Story?"

"You know. How did that happen? There's always a story to explain these things... Have you not played this game with anyone in school before?"

"You have to excuse Ally... This is her first time socializing with strangers..." Trish answered and I gave her another look. I knew Trish played this at Austin's parties in the past. She never really explained the rules to me before. She just told me what people said and I kept it a secret. So maybe the rules of having someone punished were a rumor. That or people were really good at keeping secrets...

"Oooh... A Truth Circle virgin... That's cool..." Taylor said. "You don't have to explain then yet. We don't want to scare you away when we really want to know more..."

"We'll just move onto Cassidy."

"So Cassidy..." Kirsten started. "You guys were going to be over anyway?"

"Pft... Austin is like in love with me..." She started.

"Giiirl, you gotta stop lying. When we came back from break you said that you and Austin might break up because of Louis the guy from-"

"I thought I was supposed to answer the question." Cassidy snapped.

"Louis?" Trish came in. "Whose Louis?"

"No one."

"What happened to honesty?"

"He was just a guy I knew. Okay?"

"Is she always like this?" Trish turned to look at her minions.

"When you put her on the spot yeah." Kirsten laughed. "It's actually really funny."

Seeing Cassidy like this made me realize that I shouldn't even be intimidated by her. Her own friends were able to make her squirm and it made me feel like I wasn't an inferior to her at all. If she does answer I could piece together what has been happening between her and Austin and then I could ask Austin for his point of view on the whole thing. I really didn't want to be considered a boyfriend stealer. He didn't even officially ask me to be his... yet.

"I know I'm new to this, but you aren't..." I said, meeting those stone cold blue eyes. "It's kind of weird seeing that someone like you can't answer that kind of question..." It felt good to actually talk back to Cassidy or well kind of look down on her because she's been always doing that to me. I gave her a good taste of her own medicine.

"Ally's right..." Kirsten said and gestured me to give her a high five. I slapped her hand and we both turned to look at Cassidy who was lying down on a couch, her eyes focused up on the ceiling. "You're usually the one who says things confidently... Is it because Ally's here?"

"No." She answered quickly.

"Then answer this... How did you and Louis meet? I know Taylor and I are your best friends, but you haven't even told us how you met him."

"I told you... When I went to France for a few days during the break."

"Yeah, but... details..." Trish rolled her eyes. She was always a bit impatient when it came to spilling secrets.

She took a deep breath before answering. "He was a waiter at this restaurant I went to. A quite charismatic one too... I was kind of attracted to him, but it was nothing. It was one restaurant. My parents aren't big on going to the same restaurant all the time so I thought it was no big deal." She paused for a moment and I glanced at everyone who was intently watching Cassidy to spill more. "Then there was an event my parents put together at one of our family heirloom homes and he was a waiter there too... Most people were like in their twenties and they all seemed so boring. He was the only person there my age and we just started talking because we had that same thing in common." She stopped then turned her head to look at all of us.

"That's it?" Kirsten asked, disappointed.

"You asked how I met him Kirsten. Nothing else." Cassidy scoffed and then turned to look at me. "If you're so intent on stealing Austin away from me, then what happens to Dallas?"

"Oooh... A pretty good question." Taylor murmured.

It was amazing how the attention quickly shifted from her to me in a matter of seconds.

"If Austin broke up with me obviously to get with you, then wouldn't that mean that you would have to break up with Dallas?" Taylor asked.

Trish was just staring at me. I didn't have the chance to tell her about Dallas breaking up with me today. I was going to during our bus ride home or at my place, but my stupid memory forgot about my bag and now I was in this mess. People were going to find out anyway...I didn't want to be that kind of person who lies about who actually dumped who...

"Actually..." I began. "He broke up with me today."

"WHAT?!" Trish was in shock. "That's so weird. The other day you said that he said that he was in love with you."

"Wait what? He pulled out the love word and then broke up with you after?" Taylor said. "What a guy..."

I glanced at Cassidy who was staring at me with a blank expression on her face. I thought she would be smirking and making some kind of remark like 'well you deserve it for stealing Austin away from me', but she was just quiet and the others were too busy discussing why he would do such a thing.

Come to think of it, she hasn't been bombarding me with insults or complaints ever since the day Austin formulated the plan for us to get together. Maybe a few here and there, but not as much as she should be...

"So both of you guys got dumped..." Kirsten said. "Boys these days..."

"Yeah, but Trish is the one whose now in the dating game." Taylor laughed.

I swear it's like Kirsten and Taylor knew exactly what the other person was thinking. It was like they were in unison with this Truths thing.

"Wait what?" I said, finally getting Taylor's words to process through my brain. "Trish isn't dating."

"Trish you haven't told her? Ally's your best friend."

"I was going to tell her today, but we got stuck here!" She started.

"Well, spill!" I gritted through my teeth. It sucked knowing that Kirsten and Taylor knew about it before I did. Was Trish friends with these girls? Was she sneaking behind my back to hang out with these girls? I know that I haven't been seeing her a lot lately, but still... She would at least tell me if she started dating a guy. I didn't even know that she had a crush on anyone...

"Ally has to know about you and Dez!" Taylor practically yelled out.

"What? Trish?! You and Dez?" I was in shock. S.H.O.C.K. SHOCK. I didn't even see that coming. I thought they disagreed with one another... Trish was always complaining about how she had nothing in common with Dez and how much she didn't want to work with him. Maybe I should have read in between the lines.

"During Austin's party, Dez sneaked out to hang out with me..." Trish started. "We only wanted to finish the project, I swear! I didn't see it coming... And then he kissed me and I had mixed feelings about it. We were in his car and Kirsten and Taylor over here were driving by... They saw it all..."

"That party was over a week ago!"

"It was a very embarrassing thing for me! Taylor and Kirsten wouldn't even know about it if they weren't driving by!"

"I saw it coming." Cassidy finally came in. "Dez always talked about you when I use to hang out with him with Austin..."

"Well we're not dating!" Trish began. "He just kissed me and you guys are spreading a rumor stating that we are!"

"Well do you like him?" I asked, quietly.

_Riiing! Riiing! Riiiing!_

We all stopped to hear a phone ringing from outside in the hallway. Cassidy and I stood up and walked to the door. It sounded like the ringing was coming from a few doors over.

"Who would be calling the school on a Friday night...? That's just weird..." I said.

"Yeah, but why would a phone be ringing in a school that's supposed to not have any reception at night..." Cassidy commented as one of her eyebrows knitted upwards.

"Well, maybe cell phones have no reception..."

"...But the phones here do..."

"It's still weird knowing that someone is trying to call the school this time at night..."

"We found a phone though." She smiled. It was a friendly one and it felt kind of weird. Was this random moment starting to make Cassidy warm up to me in some sort of way? She was just probably in the moment...

"You guys." She turned around to face the others. "Ally and I are going to find the noise. We'll be back in five."

Cassidy grabbed my wrist and started out the door.

"Hey!" Kirsten yelled out. "It might me a murderer! I don't think that we should split up!"

Too late though. We were already nearing the source of the ringing that just came to a stop.

"Kirsten watches way too many scary movies." She rolled her eyes as she tried to twist the doorknob. "It's locked..."

"Do you have a bobby pin?" I asked.

Cassidy reached into her large mass of hair to take out one of the bobby pins that was helping hold up her bun.

"Thanks..." I said as I grabbed it out of her hand and proceeded to unlocking the door.

In a matter of seconds, the door was now open and Cassidy was rushing over to Secretary Jones desk.

"So, do you want to call Austin?" She asked as she held the receiver against her ear. "It sounds like the phones are working..."

This was so weird. She was actually talking to me normally... Did she do something bad or was she just acting?

"But just a little piece of advice..." She continued. "Getting a favor from Kirsten could help you in the future..."

"Then call Dallas..." I said.

"How about Dez? No drama there..." She responded quickly. Did she have drama with Dallas too or was she suggesting someone else for my sake?

"Trish has drama there..."

"Trish was acting like she didn't like him." Cassidy winked and started to dial his number. "If she doesn't like him then there shouldn't be a problem..."

"From her actions though, I think she does..."

"Exact-" Cassidy stopped to focus on the voice that was now filling her ear. "Hello? Dez?... We need you to pick us up... We're locked in school... There are five of us, so don't bring anyone with you... Ohh and make sure you have something that will keep the school doors open... Yes, Trish is here too... And Ally... Stop hesitating! We don't want to be stuck here for the weekend... Okay... Okay... See you..."

"So...?" I asked, with hope.

"He'll be here in forty minutes. More or less..."

"Okay... At least we're not stuck here overnight."

"It's only been two hours now when you think about it."

"It felt longer..."

"Yeah I know..." She laughed and I stared at her suspiciously. "What?"

"You're all of a sudden getting along with me..." I admitted. "Did I say something in the last ten minutes to make you all of a sudden be nice?"

"You're making it seem like I hate you." She laughed again.

"Well... Don't you?" I paused, and her laugh simmered down to nothing. "I'd understand if you started to hate me now with Austin breaking up with you and me getting your place as director, but I don't get why you've always hated me."

"Playing a game of truths really gets everyone to start asking questions." She murmured. "Since we were playing, I guess I should answer that."

I stared at her, waiting for her to continue on with answering the question.

"I think Austin already liked you when we went to that camp." She admitted. "I liked him at that time, but he could never stop talking about how good you were with writing songs and stuff... I know I was dating Dallas at the time, but I couldn't help how I felt... For some reason though, Dallas couldn't stop talking about you too... I mean I was his girlfriend, yet he always talked about how you use to be shy in front of him and how you weren't anymore. I guess I got jealous, and it was to the point where I made Austin read your diary in front of everyone..."

"So he was really telling the truth..."

"Of course he was. Austin's such a sweetheart Ally. He would never do anything to hurt you... I always wanted to apologize, but it was all in the past. I thought you were over it too."

"So then why did you steal my scholarships...?"

"I didn't. Principal Mallone said that he would write a recommendation letter for me to get into this fine arts school in France if I made you the director... He wanted to do it in a way where you wouldn't get that much sympathetic for getting me fired. I didn't really care as long as he kept his promise. He just wanted you to experience something new."

"So then..."

"You'll have enough money to last you for like three semesters."

"I'm not really good at directing though... We haven't made that much progress..."

"Yeah... you kind of suck with progress, but you're good with suggestions..."

"You think you could help?" I asked. "Maybe we'd be faster if we divided the jobs."

"Sure... I'd like that. We can swap stories about Dallas and Austin!" She laughed. "But as for now, we have to return to the others and wait for Dez."

"Alrights..."

This was the weirdest Friday ever. I think I just reconciled with the girl who has been hating on me for years... Something seemed a little fishy...

* * *

**(A/N): Hope you enjoyed and once again, then you for all the reviews! The nice ones at least. :) haha.**


	12. Double Date

**A/N: HEY GUYS! GUESS WHOSE BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER! haha. I don't even know if people still pay attention to this story, but I'm still getting into the habit of actually finishing what I start. So enjoy! :) I'm sorry for making you guys wait over a month. And as usual, sorry for spelling errors or anything that doesn't make sense.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"Hey Ally." Cassidy came by carrying a stack of shoeboxes before turning to look at Austin. "Don't hurt her Austin or I will kill you."

Austin blinked in surprise as we both watched Cassidy walk across the stage to deliver the boxes to Ned - another kid on backdrop duty.

"Whoa." Austin said astonished. "Two hours with her, and you guys are okay with each other? It's not even okay… It's past okay. It looks more like close friends."

"Is it not weird?" I asked as I assorted some music sheets on the oak table. "I mean… You can't just be friends with someone who you had problems with for years. It's a bit fishy…"

"Who cares? She's not stressing you out anymore." Austin replied as he sat on top of the empty part of the table.

"It doesn't make sense though."

"Stop over thinking it Ally. It's fine…" He stopped before speaking again. "It is fishy, but what if she just wants to be nice? You don't want to do something that would make her hate you again…"

I stopped assorting papers to look him straight in the eye. "What if its another plan to get back at me? You know…"

"Ally. I know Cassidy. She can be mean, but she's not that mean." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Besides, we finished our project. We're almost done this and now-"

"And now we have to present both of them." I murmured under my breath.

"That and…"

"And what?"

He looked around and rubbed his neck. He looked a bit shy. I haven't seen a shy Austin in awhile, and well… it was really… cute. "You have to let me take you out on a date." He finally said.

"A date?" I repeated, sounding kind of stupid. My cheeks were turning rosy pink again. This was becoming a daily thing.

"Yeah Ally. A date." He winked and my cheeks were practically red now. _He winked…_

I quickly turned away from him to focus on assorting the papers once again. "A date." I repeated once more.

"Through all this mess, I haven't taken you out on a proper date." He admitted.

It was true though. What we were doing was more like forced hangouts due to our projects and all that drama. "Everything seems okay now… And well I want to make sure that I ask you out in a way that's not so lame…"

"Telling me about your plan is kind of lame…" I teased and then stifled a laugh.

"It's true isn't it?!" James came from out of the blue. "You guys are dating? You guys are finally dating?!"

"Hey James…" I said as he came towards Austin and me.

Austin jumped down from the table to stand beside me. "Yeah James it is!" He said and the blushing never stopped. "Well as soon as I take her out on a proper date."

"WHAT? Ally… you and I… I thought we had something special." James said dramatically.

"Stop being a drama queen." Anna came, shoving James to the side. Ahh yes… My savior – my savior from James at least.

"Are you sure YOU guys aren't dating?" I asked. "You guys are always together…"

It was weird, but I just realized that they always were. Have you ever had those moments where you saw someone at school and you just kept seeing them everywhere? I was always seeing James and Anna together. It was weird that people didn't confuse them for a couple. They were practically flirting all the time and they always had these inside jokes.

"James and I? Pfttt… Why would we date? He's not even a committed guy." Anna pointed out.

"I can be committed if I wanted too." James defended himself, rubbing the spot where Anna shoved him.

"Which is never." She rolled her eyes.

"Never is such a strong word… I'd prefer you saying seldom…ly."

"Seldomly isn't a word and you just proved my point!"

I bit my lip as I turned to look at Austin. He turned to face me for a quick second, giving me a subtle wink.

"Why don't you just prove it to her James? Show her that you can be committed…" Austin suggested and by that look on his face, I could tell that a light bulb just lit up in his head.

"You know what! I will!" James started.

"How are you going to do that?" Anna rolled her eyes. "Because dating a random girl just to show me you can be committed would also prove the fact that you're an ass!"

"I'll take you out on a date then! I'll prove to you that I can focus on one person and one person only!"

"Fine!"

These two were so heated up in this silly fight I don't even think Anna noticed the fact that James just asked her out and vice versa.

"YEAH! This Friday! At the Sherman docks! I'll pick you up at seven!"

"FINE! But only if Ally comes!"

"What?!" I blurted out in shock.

"But I was going to ask-" Austin tried, but James interrupted.

"FINE! A DOUBLE DATE IT IS."

Before we could even object, Anna and James stormed off in opposite directions.

"Was that a little too heated up for a small comment?" I asked Austin who was staring at James walking away.

"Well on the bright side… You won't be too nervous for our first official date…"

"I guess…" I mumbled. _First official date…_

* * *

"How about this?" Anna asked as I glanced up at her through the mirror. She was holding a mauve tight fitting dress to her chest. This was the fifth outfit she pulled out from her closet.

"Sure…" I hesitated. "It's nice."

"Ally, you've said that about every outfit." She rolled her eyes.

"All your clothes are nice though… I don't get why you have to dress so nicely in front of James, he already knows what you look like."

"Aren't you critical about what you're going to wear tonight?" She threw the fifth outfit onto the bed, and went back to rummaging through her closet.

"I thought about it…" In fact what she was doing right now was what I have been doing all week. I had nothing to wear though. I just gave up and decided to wear whatever I wore that day. Besides, I had other things to worry about. Our opening show was yesterday night, and even if we got good reviews, I felt like the organization could have been better. "…I think I'll just wear this."

"But you wore that today at school…"

"Yeah but, I'm sure Austin wouldn't mind me wearing the same thing…" I mumbled. _Would he care? Is Austin the type of guy who wants to see his soon to be official girlfriend dressing up in her regular casual clothes?_

"I have nothing to wear!" Anna said, frustrated. I could get why she wanted me to go straight to her house after school. I'd say girls did have it hard when trying to dress up for a guy…

"Do you like James?" I asked, inattentively. It just hit me. She was trying so hard to look good for him, and the way she was always near him… Anna had to.

"What?" She blinked in surprised. "No… I just want to show him that I can dress good too! He always says I dress like a country bumpkin…"

"You sure?"

"Honestly…" She began. "We've known each other since we were four years old. He was my first friend in pre-school. That's why we're so close and comfortable with each other…" She stopped and bit her lip.

"That's all?" I asked, beguiled by what she had to say. During my first few high school years, the only secrets I was being told all came from Trish and let's be honest. Sometimes Trish can exaggerate her stories.

It was amazing. It's only been two months, more or less and I was hearing stories and secrets from all these other people. It was making me feel more important.

"Lately things have been different." She began. "I don't know why. It's like he always gets mad at me or something and I always get mad at him."

"Why?" I blinked.

"I don't know. Maybe we aren't cut to be friends anymore. Maybe I did something to piss him off. I don't know. He doesn't tell me everything like he used too, and when he tries it's just really awkward."

"High school is full of problems…" I murmured. _Why did people have to make things much more complicated than what it actually is?_

"Maybe I do like him. I don't know. Hopefully this so called date will help me determine that…"

"I think you already do if you're trying to look so good for him…" I murmured once more.

"Oh shut up!" She stuck her tongue out and threw a pillow at my face before she walked back to her closet. "Oh and thanks Ally… You know I'm glad you were forced to join the Senior Year Play. The crowd I hang out with is all about gossip. It's nice being around someone who's not into those kinds of things."

"You're Welcome!" I smiled. "Well… we got two hours left. We better find you something to wear."

"We better find something for YOU to wear…"

An hour and a half later I found myself standing outside on a dock. The cool air brushing against my nape and my soft curls flying in every direction. I was wearing a white chiffon blouse that was being tucked into a pair of red shorts. I've never worn chiffon before, and I definitely wasn't use to wearing something somewhat transparent. Well, at least Anna let me wear my everyday flats. She on the other hand decided to go with the tight fitting dress with a pair of black stilettos. We were on the dock at a beach… I wasn't sure if stilettos would be right, but all these other women were wearing them too. Even if they wouldn't be comfortable on the sand, I guess women these days preferred fashion over sensibility.

"Whoa Anna. I never knew that you could dress like a girl." James teased as him and Austin came our away. I guess it was a good thing that I changed. Austin and James seemed to have changed into something more formal yet casual for this date.

"Wow James! I never knew that you could dress like a boy!" She rolled her eyes. "Especially how you use to wear my clothes…"

"That was years ago!"

"That was last year."

"Ally…" Austin began shyly as James and Anna started heading off into the Lobster Shack bickering along the way. "You look really nice…"

"Uhm… Thanks…" I blushed. "She let me keep the flats…"

"I'd rather have you shorter than me." He laughed.

"I'd still be shorter than you with the heels she offered me."

"Not short enough!" He teased. "So shall we begin this awkward date?"

"I'm pretty sure it won't be as awkward as the time we went to the movies with Cassidy and Dallas."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He offered me his hand and as I bit my lip, I took it in mine.

We quickly followed behind the pair that was already entering the restaurant.

"Table for four…" I barely heard James say as him and Anna were already at the podium.

"Alrights. This way sir." A blonde haired hostess led us to one of the many private booths.

I entered the booth first with Austin sitting across from me, Anna on my right and a huge fish tank with lobsters on my left.

"Do they cook these lobsters…?" I asked. I knew for sure that I wasn't going to order the specialty… I'd feel bad eating a dead lobster beside a living one.

"YEAH!" James started. "You can choose which one you want to eat too! It's awesome!"

"Stop lying!" Anna countered and I could hear a kick sounding from below the table.

"Oww…" James whined, but Anna ignored him.

"It's called the Lobster Shack because the owner's name is Howard Lobster. He thought it would be weird naming it the Howard Shack, but they serve burgers and fries too…" Anna answered, giving me a smile.

"They serve that more than lobsters…" Austin said.

"So you guys come here a lot then?" I asked as I stared at all three of them intently.

"We used too, when things weren't so complicated." James began. "Now there's the whole you and Cassidy and that drama… and everyone else with their university applications."

"Speaking of Cassidy…" Anna said, looking straight ahead. I cocked my head in the same direction as Anna and saw Cassidy coming our way. "Hey Cassidy!" Anna greeted.

"Hey you guys. What's up?" She smiled. It wasn't as cold or sinister as before. It actually looked warm and welcoming. It was really weird seeing that. "Ooh, you guys on a double date? You and James finally admitted your feelings for each other?" She teased.

"WE DO NOT!" James and Anna protested at the same time.

"You're here alone?" Austin asked.

"Uhm… No I'm actually here with-"

"Hey guys." The brown haired boy came from out of nowhere.

"…Dallas." She half smiled, half frowned. "We were putting the final pieces together on our project and all that work made us hungry."

_This is so weird. She's talking normal. HOW AM I STILL NOT USE TO THIS? _

"Well, there's no more drama between you guys anymore right?" James asked, looking at the menu.

"I hope not." Cassidy said with a straight face.

"Good. Then let's all dine together!" He decided all by himself. "TRIPLE DATE."

He clearly did not know about the awkwardness that was still lingering between Dallas and me. It felt like I haven't talked to him in years. I looked up at Austin who was quiet. He was busy looking at the menu, licking his lips probably from all the pictures. I could tell the only thing that was on his mind was food.

"I don't mind…" Cassidy said, and then turned to look at Dallas. "You okay with that?"

"Uhm… It's fine." He said in that low voice and took a seat beside James. Cassidy took her seat beside Anna and now the booth was full.

"So how is this matchmaking project thingy going?" Anna asked. "Jacob only seems to complain about it."

"I don't think I would have been friends with Ally again without it." Austin admitted, as he set the menu down on the table.

"Friends? More than friends dude." James corrected.

"Are you guys ready to order?" A lady came by with a notepad.

"The usual." All of them said at the same time.

_Wow they really do come here a lot… or did come here a lot. _

"And for the lady in the corner?" She was obviously referring to me.

"Uhm…" I began, but I didn't even get a chance to look at the menu. Why did Austin and James even have to look at it if they were going to get the usual? Whatever the usual is…

"She'll just have the same thing as me." Austin said with a smile.

"Alrights then… I'll be back in a few." The lady went off to the next booth, asking how the people were doing.

"What is the usual for you?" I asked Austin.

"Burger and onion rings." Cassidy answered the question.

"You should have gotten yam fries for Ally. She loves those." Dallas said.

"Awkward…." James said eerily.

I haven't eaten all that much with Austin. In fact this was well the first official time for me to actually see what he liked. Other than his mother's cooking that is.

"I can change it if you want Ally." Austin began.

"No it's fine." I gave him a smile, and I reached my foot out to his underneath the table. "Sometimes change is good…"

"Might as well remove me from your life…" Dallas murmured, but loud enough for all of us to hear.

"Dallas." Cassidy shot him a look.

"Awkward…." James sounded once more and another kick was sounded beneath the table.

"How about we talk about the show…" Anna tried changing the subject. "Good job everyone! I think we all-"

"And why don't you just stop with this 'be-nice-to-Ally' attitude of yours." He snapped.

"Dallas!" Cassidy tried again, this time standing up from her seat.

"You'll always be a bitch and you know it! No one will ever like you Cassidy, so why don't you just stop!"

"DALLAS!" This time I was the one standing up; watching my worn out flat hit his face. I don't even remember how that got into my hand. This was the first time I've ever seen Dallas lose his cool. I don't even know why he was losing his cool. "You're the one who broke up with me. Why don't you just stop being such an ass. That isn't the Dallas I know!"

"And you think you and Cassidy can actual be friends? She's the reason why I had to let you go." He countered before storming out of the restaurant.

"What?" I blinked.

"Cassidy?" Anna asked, and we all looked confused.

"What was that all about?" Austin asked. She met eyes with him, and then with me and I could tell something was up. Tears were ready to flow down her cheeks, but she left before she could actually start crying.

"Maybe I should talk to her…" Austin suggested.

"No…" As much as I hated it, I had to do it… "I have to talk to her… I mean our drama is clearly between me and her."

Anna scooted out of the booth, taking my flat and handing it to me. I took it and placed it back on my foot "Thanks." I said before leaving the restaurant. The last thing I heard was another kick. It was probably another one for James. I never knew that James was that clueless, but his ignorance was on the bottom of my list right now.

I looked out into the darkness, squinting my eyes until I spotted the blonde turning a corner. Thank god for me winning the battle of keeping my flats. I ran in the same direction as Cassidy, finally spotting her as she took refuge on a bench in front of a garden of flowers. I continued walking until I was standing right behind her. I really had no clue as to how to approach her. She would probably go back into bitch mode.

"I won't go back into bitch mode." She confirmed my very thought. "It's tiring…"

"You okay…?" That was the only thing my brain could formulate. I slowly stepped forward, and took a seat beside her on the bench.

"He's right." She said through the sniffles. "I am a bitch and it is my fault. I was honestly over Austin. We've been over each other for a while. We were just used to having each other there…"

"I admit you can be quite a handful… but what he did was really random. I'm sorry if I did anything. I'm not used to you trying to be nice to me, but I should try to be-"

"No you shouldn't. I don't even know what's wrong with me. I don't deserve your sympathy…"

"But you're trying to be nice to-"

"But it would be better if you hated me." She said as she tried to get her breathing back into order. "I get why both of them are so madly in love with you…"

"If Dallas was in love with me he wouldn't have broken up with me..." I said, stating the obvious.

"But he knew that you had feelings for Austin. We both knew that deep down you guys always liked each other."

"Yeah but-"

Her breathing was becoming jagged again. "Two days before he broke up with you, he was with me…" She tried to control her breathing again, but it wasn't working. "I was pissed about that picture, so I felt like I had to do something worse…"

"So you kissed Dallas? Then we're even now-"

She still had the need to interrupt me. "I made him drink Ally… I made sure he was drunk… I took advantage of him… I'm sorry. I am a bitch. You can't get mad at him. It's all my fault and he's right, I shouldn't even try being your friend."

She kept going on and on about how she didn't deserve to be friends with me, but that wasn't even on my mind. _I took advantage of him… _The information was seeping through me like venom. What did she mean by that?"Took advantage of him?" I asked in a monotone voice. "How…?" Asking how was probably the worse thing I could ask, but I just needed to know…

"Dammit Ally…" She began as she stood up from the bench. The tears were flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks now. "I fucked him Ally. I fucked him. WE HAD SEX OKAY?" She admitted and now she wasn't the only one who was breathing heavily. "I'm so sorry… Don't blame him though. It's all my fault, I-" And before I knew it, another attack launched from deep inside me. I must have blanked out for a quick second because my palm was aching and as I snapped back into reality. She was staring at me, her hand rubbing her cheek. "I'm so sorry…" She sobbed, and then ran back into the darkness.


End file.
